The Tale of a Broken Man
by PsychoHaired
Summary: NEW CHAPTER! YAY! Ever wonder what Snape was like when he was a teenager? The life and times of Severus Snape. Set during Severus's School years. Rated T for violence and language. WIP
1. Chapter 1

"The Tale of a Broken Man"

**By: PsychoHaired**

Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine unless you don't recognize a name, then I made it up… it's all J.K. Rowling's

A/N- I know, I know… PsychoHaired isn't writing a weird story, so creepy right? Well let me tell you a bit about this story for those who were expecting something more… me. This story is little bits and pieces of Snape's life, beginning with a very disturbing event that eventually caused his **SPOILER AHEAD** _ultimate break down and eventually the murder of AD_. **END OF SPOILER.** Throughout the story you will see what life was like for Severus. I warn you, this story will not be fluffy or all romantic, although it is one of the genres I put it under. Anyways, here it is; I hope you enjoy and that at the end of this, you might understand the reasons for Snape's actions.

_Chapter 1:_

It was a very stormy evening and rain could be heard all over Spinner's End. Severus sat crossed legged on his bed in his small dank and dark room reading his new textbook _1001 magical herbs and fungi. _He heard a crash and a dull 'thud' downstairs.

"_Your_ son is a freak! Just like you're whole lot! It's your entire fault!"

"Don't you dare call _OUR _son like that!"

"He is no son of mine!"

Another crash was heard, followed by a whimper.

"Mum" Severus whispered and ran downstairs. He stopped at the base of the steps and looked wide eyed at the scene before him. Severus's mother, Eileen Prince, was crouched in the kitchen corner sobbing, a trickle of blood running down her forehead.

"Mum!" Severus ran towards her. He crouched next to her shaking body and hugged her protectively.

"Don't you touch her boy!" His father roared.

"Leave her alone" Severus whispered in a dangerous voice.

"Don't you dare speak to me like that!" He struck him across Severus's face with a forceful hand.

"Tobias… please!"

"Shut up wench!" he wielded a butcher's knife from behind his back "I should've done this when you told me… when you told me what you _were_" his eyes glowed with maniacal fury. He slowly drew the knife over his head for momentum and plunged it downwards.

"Noooooo!" Severus's scream pierced the stormy night as a flash of green light and a dull 'thump' issued a second later.

-o-

Severus sat on a hard wooden bench on the trial of his father's murder. The judge walked into the courtroom and the crowd rose up, he took a seat and motioned them to do so as well.

"The jury has reached a verdict. We find Eileen M. Prince, accused on the counts of second degree murder of Tobias S. Snape… _guilty_ as charged" he struck his gavel on the podium. "Mrs. Prince will be sentenced to five years in Azkaban Prison, no bail; which will be carried on September 1st of this year." A chatter rose from the crowd and the judge slammed his gavel once again "Order! As for the custody of the child, Severus Tobias Snape" the judge looked over at his dumbstruck expression "He will be sent to a foster home. The court is adjourned." He struck the gavel one last time and the crowd rose slowly to its feet leaving a still dumbstruck eleven-year-old Severus behind.

A/N- This is the beginning, I hope you liked it. More will be coming up soon, I already have the first three chapters written on my notebook, but since this isn't my computer, I'm going to wait until I get back home on Tuesday. I know this chapter is short and so will the next one, but the third chapter is a lot longer than this. Well, now it's up to you. Please review :) You will find out the pairing on chapter three, I don't want to give too much away at the moment…


	2. Chapter 2

_"The Tale of a Broken Man"_

**By: PsychoHaired**

**A/N- **This is the second installment in my fanfic. Sorry it so long to update, I was taking the SAT and the PEAU, things went well this time so hopefully I got more than a 1600… anyways, here's the second chapter, enjoy!

Chapter 2:

The next day a very shaken eleven-year-old boy with shoulder length black hair walked alongside a tall wizard escort. They turned a corner and walked towards a large Victorian house ina small wizarding neighborhood. The escort knocked on the door and stepped back. Moments later, a short, plump blonde woman opened the door. She smiled kindly.

"Hello, you must be Severus Snape! I'm Janice and this is my husband Phil Morris." She gestured towards a tall, slightly balding man in his forties. Mr. Morris smiled at Severus.

"Well Severus" The escort placed his hand on his shoulder "this is your new home. Now, the Ministry expects you to behave"

"Yes sir" he looked down at the pavement.

"I expect Mr. And Mrs. Morris will take you to King's Cross Station right after you visit your mum ok?"

Severus looked up briefly and nodded.

"Come in" Janice smiled and led them into the house. The escort stayed with Mr. Morris talking over some of the legal issues while Janice led Severus upstairs, through a hallway and to the right.

"This is your room" Mrs. Morris opened the door and revealed a spacious room with a four poster bed, next to it was a night stand topped with a muggle lamp and a Wizard Wireless Network. Across from the bed was a huge bookcase packed with books ranging form muggle novels, to spell books, and even a few comics.

"The Ministry told us you liked to read so Phil dusted off his old collection and brought it down from the attic for you"

Severus looked around in slight awe "Thank you Mrs. Morris" he mustered a weak smile.

"You're welcome, you can call me Janice if you want"

He nodded.

"Well, Phil and I have to sign a few papers" she turned around to leave and stopped "There's a bathroom right through that door, by the way. Make yourself at home" she left the room and closed the door.

He sighed and unpacked his things. He placed a picture of him and his mother on the nightstand. The picture had been taken a few years ago, he and his mum were covered head to toe in white flour, they'd been trying to bake cookies the muggle way but hadn't been very successful. He smiled sadly as he stared at the picture, he wondered what she was doing right now… Images of his mother surrounded by dementors plagued his mind and he shivered involuntarily. This place was different, it was warm and polite, it made a nice change… but it wasn't _home._ Severus flopped down on the bed and stared at the ceiling. He missed his mum; he couldn't believe the judge had sentenced _her_ for murdering his father… When his father had attacked them, he wanted to protect his mother so badly, when he cried out for him not to do it, a green light had flashed through his eyelids… next thing he saw was his father's body sprawled on the ground and his mother crouched against the corner anticipating an attack that never came… Now she'd been sentenced to five years in Azkaban, and Severus blamed himself… it was his entire fault, he deduced, and there was nothing he could do about it, so he cried. Severus Snape closed the hangings on his four-poster and cried until he was called for dinner a few hours later.

-o-

"So Severus, do you like Quidditch?" Mr. Morris asked from across the table.

"No sir" he mumbled.

"Shame, it's a great sport" he sighed wistfully. "You probably don't understand it that's all"

"I understand it... I'm just not good at it"

"Oh"

A long silence followed, interrupted occasionally by the clatter of cutlery.

"So… do you have all your school supplies?" Mrs. Morris asked.

"Yes"

"Oh, ok. I thought maybe we could go to Diagon Alley together"

"It's ok" he said awkwardly.

-o-

Severus pulled on his pajamas and lied on the bed motionless, staring out the window. A few minutes later a soft tapping noise came from the door. Severus quickly turned on his side and feigned sleep. Janice peeked her head through the door and came in.

"Good night Severus" she whispered and brushed his bangs from his face. She turned around quietly and closed the door.

'_Mum used to do that' _he thought sadly.

**A/N- **Well, that's it for chapter two, please read and review. Next chapter will be longer than this one so will the fourth one (not sure is the fourth is even longer than the third one). Please Review! The third chapter will probably be up by next weekend! Anyways, here's a **_sneak peek_** at the third chapter!

_"Are you okay?"_

_His stomach gave a violent lurch at the sight of her. "Y-yes" he stuttered dumbly. She smiled at him and turned to board the train. Severus looked after the girl transfixed. He shook his head and snapped out of it. He entered the train pulling his trunk behind him. _


	3. Chapter 3

**"The Tale of a Broken Man" **

_By: PsychoHaired_

A/N- I'd just like to remind everybody that Severus will be out of character in the first chapters of this story, but will slowly be turning into the Snape we already know, ok? Also, I'd like to thank my two reviewers, and the one hundred-ish people who read this… One hundred people read this, and only _two_ reviewed? Come on people, you can do better than that ;). Here's the third chapter! Enjoy!

_**Chapter 3: **_

It had been nearly a month since Severus had arrived to the Morris's household. They had been kind and loving to him, and for that he was grateful, but they could never replace his mother's unjust absence. He had lost most of his appetite; he could barely sleep at night, because of this, Severus was becoming weak and increasingly ill at ease. He spent the grand majority of his time in his room reading his textbooks. Today though, he was tossing and turning in a restless slumber.

"Severus" someone shook him lightly.

"Huh?" he looked around blinking wearily. Janice was smiling down at him.

"Good Morning" she paced to the window and drew back the curtains letting in a few rays of sunshine.

Severus yawned as he stretched. Janice waved her wand and a tray of breakfast zoomed in through the open door and hovered to a stop in front of him.

"Eat up, you'll need it for today"

"Oh… yes, right" he drank a bit of orange juice. Today he would be saying goodbye to his mother for five long years. Today was also the day he would begin his lessons at Hogwarts. Severus took a bite out of some buttered toast and slid off the bed to brush his teeth.

-o-

"Good Morning, we're here to see Mrs. Eileen Snape" Mr. Morris addressed a Ministry escritoire.

"It's _Prince_" Severus mumbled.

"Oh, sorry. Mrs. Eileen Prince"

"Eileen Prince…" the escritoire scanned a list of names with the tip of her wand. "She's on the third floor, second door to your left," she pointed towards a set of golden lifts.

After getting off the lifts they walked down the hallway and entered through the second door to the left.

"Good Morning, we're here to see Mrs. Prince" Mr. Morris addressed a Ministry Worked in navy blue robes. He pointed to the back of the room without looking up from his _Prophet._

"Mum!" Severus ran to a small cell and stuck his head through the bars.

"Severus!" His mum embraced him through the cell bars , her eyes brimming with tears. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," he mumbled.

"Please be good"

"I will mum"

"Study hard, get good grades Severus. Make me proud" I will mum.

"I love you" she whispered in his ear.

"I'll miss you" he sniffed.

"I'll miss you too" she looked up at the teary-eyed Morrises and wiped here tears with the cuff of her sleeve. "Please, take good care of my son"

"We will Mrs. Prince, don't worry" they reassured

Severus hugged his mum through the bars once more.

"Time's up folks" the guard said unceremoniously.

"No! Mum!" Severus held on to the bars.

"Come on kid!" The guard tried to pull him by his shoulder. Severus held on tightly to the bars.

"Mum please"

"Severus" she said calmly "please, go with the Morrises, go to Hogwarts" she smiled sadly "Make me proud" she handed him a tattered copy of Advanced Potions.

Severus stooped struggling and nodded, holding on to the book.

"Goodbye" tears rolled silently down her cheeks.

"G'bye" his voice broke, turning around to leave with Mr. and Mrs. Morris. Janice put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

-o-

All through the car ride sat a thick solemn silence. When they arrived at King's Cross Station a few minutes later, Mr. Morris unloaded his trunk and pulled it up to platforms nine and ten.

"Good bye Severus" Janice hugged him in a motherly fashion. He was surprised at the gesture and patted her back awkwardly.

"Goodbye" Phil shook his hand firmly.

"Thanks… for everything" he turned around and slid through platforms nine and ten.

When he emerged, a titanic ruby colored steam engine stood before him, steam billowing out of its chimneystack.

"Oy! Sirius! Catch!"

Severus heard a faint snarling coming faster towards him but before he had time to comprehend what was about to happen, he felt a sharp pain at the back of his head and fell forwards to the stone floor.

"Hey! Watch where you stand you runt!" a skinny young boy with unruly jet-black hair, no older than eleven by the looks of it, snatched a snarling fanged Frisbee out of Severus's hair. Pained, confused, annoyed, and slightly embarrassed, Severus glared at the kid who joined another, much taller kid who laughed with a bark.

Severus sat on his knees and felt the back of his head; it was bruised, when he looked at his hand a few strands of long black hair clung to it. He began to stand up with a sour expression on his face.

"Here" a girl with striking wavy red tresses handed him his tattered copy of Advanced Potions "Are you all right?"

His eyes met her intense emerald green eyes and his stomach gave a violent lurch. "Y-yes" he stuttered. She smiled at him and turned to board the train. Severus looked after the girl, transfixed.

He shook his head and entered the train pulling his trunk behind him. After securing the trunk with the others he walked down the halls looking for an empty compartment. He finally found one on the very back of the train and settled himself down with his book. The train whistle blew and he felt the wheels beginning to move steadily below. The compartment door slid open and the girl he'd seen earlier peeked her head inside.

"Hi" she smiled "Do you mind if I sit here? Everywhere else is full"

"Yeah… I mean no… go ahead" he mentally kicked himself.

"Thanks" she walked towards him "I'm Lily, Lily Evans" she held out her hand and he shook it.

"I'm Severus Snape"

"Nice to meet you"

"You too"

She sat down opposite him and looked out the window. They spent a few minutes in silence.

"So, where are you from?" she asked conversationally.

"Edinburgh, you?"

"Bristol"

Silence fell again, Severus looked at her. She was staring at the carpet. '_Maybe she's bored' _he thought.

"Do you want to play Gobstones?" he asked her.

She looked quizzically at him "What's that?"

"You don't know what gobstones are?"

"I just found out I was a witch a few month ago. My parents are regular people, no one in my family is magical… not even my older sister"

"Oh! You're muggle-born"

"Excuse me?"

"Muggle-born, you know, your parents are muggles, non-magical people, that's what we call them"

"So I take it you're not muggle-born then?"

"No"

"Are both your parents wizards?"

"Just mum" he looked out the window.

"So that makes your father a muggle then"

"Yeah, he was a muggle"

"Was? Oh I'm sorry I didn't mean to-

"It's ok" he shifted uncomfortably.

"When did he…"

"Last month" he wondered momentarily why he didn't feel the need to deny what happened to this strange girl.

"…"

"It's ok, he wasn't much of a father"

"Oh… so you live with your mum then I guess"

"…She's" his voice broke " in Azkaban, the wizarding prison"

Lily looked horrified "I- I'm sorry I" she stuttered.

"Don't worry… you didn't know…" he looked at Lily Evans; she looked horribly embarrassed.

A few minutes of uncomfortable silence followed once more.

"So um… what are gobstones?" she asked tentatively.

Severus looked up. "I'll show you, wait here" he got up to fetch his old set. His mother had been the president of the Gobstones club and she had taught him everything she knew. When he reached the compartment once more he sat on the floor and motioned for her to do so too.

After an hour or so, Lily had caught on to the rules of the game and was fairly good at it. They laughed whenever either of the got sprayed in the face by one of the stones.

"You're a fast learner," he said wiping his wet face on his sleeve.

"You're a good teacher" she laughed.

"So what house do you think you'll get into?" he asked her.

"House?" she looked puzzled.

"Oh, right. Well, there are four of them: Slytherin, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. Slytherin is known for ambitious power hungry people, Gryffindor are for the brave, Hufflepuffs are loyal friends and Ravenclaws are clever"

"I think I could be a Ravenclaw…" she thought "I was a very good student back in my muggle school" she looked at him "How about you?"

"Slytherin, most likely. I come from a long line of Slytherins so it's practically a given"

"Oh"

The compartment door slid open and an older boy stuck his head inside.

"Hey you two, we'll be arriving soon, so you should change into your school robes"

"Nervous?" she asked anxiously.

"A little…"

"Me too" she stood up and left towards the door "Bye Sev" she closed the door behind her.

Severus heart skipped a beat. He wasn't quite sure why that happened, he shrugged it off nonchalantly and began to change into his robes.

-o-

"Firs' years!" A deep booming voice carried on above the excited chatter. "Firs years with me!" A huge man lifted a lantern above his head.

Severus joined a rather nervous-looking group of First Years as they all crowded around the giant man.

"Gather 'round, gather 'round. Evr'y one here? Good. Ok, welcome ter Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. We will now be crossin' the lake, separate into groups of four towards the boats and please don't fall in, yeh don't want the giant squid ter eat you lot" he laughed as the first years squirmed uncomfortably. "I was just pullin' yer leg." An audible sigh of relief followed. "The giant squid is harmless" The group instinctively huddled closer together.

Severus craned his neck trying to spot a flash of red hair but was unsuccessful. He wound up in a boat with a smug looking blond kid, some guy who's last name was Nott and a girl who would've been good-looking if not for the fact that she looked like she'd smelled something foul. As the mass of small boats glided smoothly through the lake, a magnificent castle loomed overhead. Many "Ooh's" and "Aah's" were heard.

After reaching the main entrance, the group was greeted by a stern looking thirty-something year old.

"Good afternoon, and congratulations. When I say so, you will proceed into the Great Hall where you will be sorted into one of four houses. Gryffindor (she heaved her proudly), Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and _Slytherin_" she emphasized the last word with a hint of aggravation.

-o-

The first years stared in wonder as a seemingly tattered old hat broke into song.

_Welcome all to Hogwarts_

_First years look shy indeed_

_But do not fret my young ones,_

_If my advice you heed._

_Troubled times may lie ahead_

_Sooner than you think,_

_But for now, don't worry;_

_just place me on your heads_

_Now my task is simple_

_To tell you where you belong,_

_May it be Ravenclaw or Gryffindor,_

_If you're intelligent or strong._

_May it be Hufflepuff or Slytherin,_

_If ye be loyal, or just wantto win_

_So please, put me on, take a seat and relax my friend,_

_For I will choose where you belong,_

_From today until the end._

After the hat concluded its song, the hall erupted in raucous applause. The stern-looking witch stood up with a roll of parchment and began calling out names in alphabetical order. Severus took this time to admire the seemingly non-existent ceiling, which twinkled with hundreds of thousands of stars.

"Black, Sirius" Severus recognized him as the boy with the bark for a laugh. He'd been sorted into Gryffindor, the boy looked slightly surprised.

"Black, Bellatrix" she was the first Slytherin sorted.

"Black, Narcissa" he recognized the girl as the one he'd shared a boat with, she was also sorted into Slytherin.

-o-

"Evans, Lily" Severus looked up and caught here eye; she gave him a nervous smile. She was sorted into Gryffindor. Severus looked down at the floor momentarily; they'd most likely be in different houses.

After calling a large amount of names, "Snape, Severus" was finally called. He walked shakily towards the stool and placed the Sorting Hat on his head.

'Aha! You're related to Prince, are you not?' 

'_Yes' he thought._

'_I see, smart… very cunning, Ravenclaw would do you very well, I also see a very great desire to succeed, oho! You ARE an ambitious one…'_

"SLYTHERIN!"

Severus slid off the stool and glanced quickly over at the Gryffindor table. Lily smiled and clapped for him, he smiled back.

A/N- Finally done with this chapter! I told you this would be a long one! The next one might be up in the wee hours of the morning… I'm not going to be here tomorrow (Sunday) but I'll try to get the next chapter in this weekend as well. I don't think next chapter is as long as this one, but it's pretty close to it. I hope you enjoyed! Please REVIEW! And yes, this will be a Lily/ Snape fic… but it's not an AU so… yeah. Please review.


	4. Chapter 4

**"The Tale of a Broken Man" **

_By: PsychoHaired_

A/N- Well, here's the fourth chapter… not on the weekend, but this week nonetheless. I hope all three hundred of you enjoyed last chapter and I'd like to thank my reviewers for pushing me along the way. Gives all of you some chocolate Enjoy!

_Chapter 4:_

All throughout his first year at Hogwarts, he had been competitive with the Marauders, especially Potter and Black. These two in particular were always the bane of his existence; they constantly harassed him, and made his the center of all their jokes and taunts. His classmates didn't help much either, mostly they would ignore it, but some went as far as encouraging it. Severus Snape was unpopular to say the least, sure, he had 'friends' but to him they were more of acquaintances. In fact, the only true friend he could think of was Lily; she gave him a sense of easiness no one had ever achieved. That easiness made Hogwarts a place, where for the first time, he could call "home".

Soon after being sorted into Slytherin, Severus had gotten acquainted with his fellow housemates. Turns out that the girl he had shared a boat with was named Narcissa Black who had a sister named Bellatrix. They proceeded from on of the most ancient and well-known pureblood families in Britain. Severus had formed a guarded friendship with these two, along with most of the Slytherins, they were proud supporters of the purity of one's blood; often boasting their own like a badge of honor. Severus himself felt tainted by his scum of a father's blood that pulsed through his veins and was very much ashamed of his muggle heritage. He decided to play the pureblood card, fooling nearly everyone, everyone except for Lily Evans that is.

Along the course of his first few weeks at Hogwarts, it was clear that he had inherited his mother's brilliance in potions and also a strange attraction to the Dark Arts. He found himself entranced by them, and often found himself in the library researching extra jinxes and curses. This fact was duly noted by his peers and thusly labeled as a dork; a gang of bullies who called themselves "The Marauders" also noted this. This group, to him, had appeared to have sworn to make his life a living hell.

"Hey Snivelly" Potter jeered.

"Go away" Severus kept reading his book.

"I would want to…but I'm afraid I can't do that. You see, I rather dislike know-it-all bookworms like you"

Severus gripped his wand.

"Tisk, tisk" Black joined in "wouldn't want dear old Filch catching you doing that now would you?"

"Leave me alone or I'll hex you" he muttered dangerously, looking up from his book for the first time.

"Potter! Snape!" McGonagall walked briskly towards the pair, Severus had stood up and the pair of seething boys was standing at arm's length pointing their wands at each other's throat. "I'd expect you already know the rules about magic in the hallways!"

"Yes mam, but-

"No 'But's'! Five points off each, now put them away and head to class!" she walked away rapidly.

"We'll settle this another day Snivellus" Potter mumbled audibly as he shoved him into a wall.

-o-

Severus sat under a tree reading a book on vampires.

"Hey Sev" Lily sat down next to him.

"Hello Lily" he put down his book.

They always met under the same tree on Saturdays; it was sort of an unspoken agreement between them. The Slytherins often passed by and gave Severus several odd looks, when he had noticed this, he asked Lily if it ever bothered her, she had replied with a resound no, because she didn't care what other people thought. Severus had admired her for that.

"Rough day?" she pointed out a black eye he was sporting.

Severus gave her a non-committal shrug.

"You should probably go see the nurse"

"I've been there twice this week, I wont give those _gryffindorks _another reason to do me in"

"Gryffindorks?" Lily frowned.

"I meant the Marauders Lily" he smiled faintly "I wouldn't insult _you_"

She turned to face him "Here, Professor Flitwick taught me this charm yesterday when I stubbed my toe" She gave her wand an upward jerk and poked Severus's left eye.

"Ow! Lily that hurt!"

She laughed and held up a compact mirror.

"True, but it's not bruised anymore"

"Yes but it'll be bruised in a few seconds from that stab you just gave me" they both laughed.

"So how's that potion's essay coming along?" he asked.

"Er… not so bad" she looked down.

"You haven't started it have you?"he raised his eyebrows expectantly.

"Well…" she blushed

"It's due tomorrow you know…"

"I know… it's just that, I'm not _bad_ at potions… I'm no _great_ either… it's tricky"

"I could give you a few pointers you know"

"Like?" she raised her eyebrow

"Read the instruction lines twice, for starters, half the time you mess up is because you skipped something"

She rolled her eyes.

"It's not that hard you know…" he ran his hand through his hair, which fell immediately onto his face. "I think you'd be a dab hand at potions if you tried" he smirked.

"Ha! The day I get a potion right is the day I marry Potter!"

"You could ask Professor Slughorn if you could be my partner"

"That'd be great," she laughed.

-o-

"Well… you do seem to need the help. Don't give me that face! Oh all right! Okay! Yes, he may be your potions partner for the rest of the year if it's all right with him" Slughorn looked bemusedly at his young student.

"Thank you Professor" Lily smiled and exited his office. Severus was waiting outside. "He said it was okay if you were all right with it"

"That's excellent"

-o-

Severus was walking out of the potions dungeons after a very enjoyable double potions class. He found that he had been right about Lily, she had improved quite much this week, and she was actually quite as gifted as he was when she paid attention. Oddly enough though, he found it a bit harder to concentrate with her around. Severus shrugged this thought away and kept walking, humming to himself. He turned a corner and headed up the staircase that led him to the Great Hall, he climbed the flight of steps but before he could reach the top, he tripped, or rather, was tripped by Sirius Black. They foursome sniggered and kept on walking. Severus shook with anger and clenched his fists until his knuckles went white. It wasn't until he looked down that he saw his reflection in a small puddle of blood. His nose was bleeding profusely.

-o-

"Snape! Merlin, what happened to you?" The nurse rushed towards him as he entered the infirmary, blood all over the front of his robes. She steered him promptly towards a bed and sat him down.

"I tripped" he wiped some blood off his nose and winced.

"Oh dear, broken nose" she frowned. "Here let me" she pushed his hand away and siphoned most of the blood off his face, then she tapped her wand gently on the tip of her nose "_Episkey" _she put her wand away "there, all fixed" she rummaged in her pocket and gave him a bar of chocolate.

"Thanks" Severus got up quickly and left the Hospital Wing at a brisk pace. Back in the Great Hall, he ate lunch quickly at the far end of the Slytherin table and jogged off to the library as soon as he was done.

He pushed the oak double-doors open and slipped inside the library. He sat in his usual corner at the back and started working on an essay that had been assigned that day. He was halfway through when the bell rang signaling the beginning of Transfiguration.

-o-

They had been trying to turn earthworms into needles and after his fifth try, he had finally turned it into a sewing needle, although it wriggled slightly when you picked it up.

"Good job Snape, five points" McGonagall passed his table "Excellent Potter, 10 points" James looked mockingly back at Snape.

-o-

The young Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher paced around the classroom.

"Now," he paused twiddling his thumbs, "who can tell me the most effective deflecting curse for jinxes and some minor curses?"

A few hands showed up.

"Snape"

"The Shield Charm, _Protego_"

"Excellent" He kept pacing around the room. Severus turned around and saw the Marauders glaring at him. He smirked.

A/N- Well, this is Chapter four, hope you all like it! Next Chapter will be up around next weekend, oh! And Happy Halloween! Please Review! Here's a **_sneak peek_** at Chapter five ;)

_He headed out the main entrance onto the snow-covered grounds; a chill breeze blew across his face. He shoved his hands in his pockets and enjoyed the soft 'crunch' his footsteps made. All of a sudden, something cold struck the side of his head and he fell to the ground in shock._

Please Review!


	5. Chapter 5

**"The Tale of a Broken Man"**

_**By: PsychoHaired**_

_Disclaimer:_ All recognizable characters belong to J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. Any unrecognized characters are a figment of my imagination.

A/N- I'm back! Hooray! I'm done with THE most abominable project ever! I'm so happy to be done with, I mean, I didn't have a life for the past weeks! (Hence the lack of new chapter) I'm so sorry you guys! Maybe I should stop saying when the next chapters will be up… In other news, the University of Florida rejected me :( I'm pretty bummed out about that, it was my first choice. But, oh well, I still have Santa Fe as a back up and I'm now applying to FAMU… wish me luck! And now, without much further ado…

**Chapter 5: **

The last months of autumn had come and gone in a whirl of golden brown. Now winter had arrived and the school grounds were covered in a shimmering blanket of pure white. Hogwarts was now almost empty since most students decided to return home for the holidays. Severus, on the other hand, decided to stay here instead of going back to the Morris's. Right now, he was on his way to send them a Christmas card and a huge box of Bertie Bott's.

"Hey Sev!" Lily caught up to him.

"Hello Lily"

"Going to the owlery?"

"Yeah, I'm sending the Morrises something for Christmas"

"Why? Aren't you going back?"

"Nah, I decided to stay"

"That's great, we'll spend Christmas together then" she smiled.

"I thought you were going back"

"Yeah well… I wasn't exactly looking forward to 'Petunia Time'" she rolled her eyes.

Severus laughed as he beckoned a school barn owl down. He tied the package and secured the scroll then watched the bird fly away.

Severus and Lily walked down together talking about random things, laughing occasionally. As she talked, he wondered what to get her for Christmas.

"Hey Lily!" some girls called over.

"Hey Alice" she waved.

"Want to make a snowman?"

"Sure! Severus would you like to join us?"

He looked at the group of girls who were shooting him disapproving looks "Er, no thanks, I uhh… have to go do something"

She frowned "Oh, ok, you sure you don't want to?"

He nodded.

"I'll see you later then" she waved goodbye as she joined the group. Severus turned around, he could still hear them talking as he walked away.

"Geez Lily, why'd you ask that boy to join us! He's such a dork" a girl whispered.

Severus cheeks reddened and his hands shook.

"Well that '_dork_' just happens to be a very good friend of mine and I'd appreciate it if you laid off him Marietta" Lily replied hotly.

Severus turned around just in time to see Lily stomping off with Alice, Marietta shot them a reproachful look.

-o-

"Hey Dubois" Severus greeted his roommate flopping down on the couch opposite him.

"Hey" he said in a bored tone of voice "what are you doing for the holidays?"

"I'm staying here, how about you?"

"Oh I'm going to our winter estate over at the Alps" he shrugged.

"That sounds like fun" he lied down on the couch and summoned a group of marbles to fly above his head.

"Barely, what with all the skiing and mountain climbing with my parents, it'a all rathe dull"

"Why?" He shot down a flying marble.

"We do the same thing every year, it just gets boring you know?"

Severus shrugged and shot down two more marbles.

"What are you doing anyways?" Dubois pointed at the zooming marbles.

"Target practice, sharpening my aim" he said nonchalantly.

"Hmm" he nodded.

-o-

Severus flipped through a Honeyduke's Catalogue searching for a Christmas present for Lily. After a few minutes he decided to go with a box of deluxe Sugar Quills. He filled out the order form and tucked it in his pocket to send later, and then he jumped out of bed and headed out the door.

The halls were nearly empty, save for a few here and there humming Christmas carols. He headed out the main entrance onto the snow-covered grounds, a chill breeze blowing across his face. He shivered slightly and shoved his hands into his pockets, he enjoyed the soft 'crunch' his footsteps made in the newly fallen snow. All of a sudden, something cold struck the side of his head and he fell to the ground in shock.

"Got you!" Lily raced towards him laughing

"Hey! Don't do that! Do you plan on giving me a heart-attack?"

"I'm sorry I- Agh!" she was cut off by a slush ball.

"Got you" he smirked.

"Severus!"

He laughed and ran from her.

"Come back here!" She chased after him pelting him with snowballs at him.

"As you wish!" he skidded to a halt and raced towards her, his wand pointing to the ground and then raising it in a graceful arch muttering a spell. The snow was lifted in a wave-like motion and as it swept over her, Severus laughed.

She raised her eyebrow at him and got out her wand. "_Flipendo_" the tree Severus was now standing beneath shook with the spell's impact, causing a pile of snow to fall on him also. She stuck out her tongue.

"Fine! You win" he smirked again.

"Yes!" she jumped up and down excitedly.

Severus looked bemusedly at her.

"Um, Lily?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm stuck here"

"Oh right" she levitated the snow off him.

"Want to head back to the library and finish off our work?" Severus brushed off his robes.

"Ok" she took a step towards him and brushed a bit of the snow off his hair "I'll meet you there, I've got to get my books"

"Sure, I have to get my books too so I'll meet you there" She smiled and walked beside him towards the castle. She turned right and he turned left, and up the owlery. After sending off the Honeyduke's order he quickly fetched his things in the Common room and ran towards the Library. When he got there, he found Lily talking to Professor Slughorn.

"…on Christmas Eve, in my office"

"Ok"

"You can bring a friend along if you'd like"

"Um, sure"

"See you then" He turned around and left humming _'God rest ye Merry Hippogriffs' _

Lily turned around and spotted him.

"Hey" she walked next to him.

"Why were you talking to Professor Slughorn?"

"He invited me to his Christmas Eve Slug Club Part, want to join me?"

"Ok"

She smiled and headed towards the library with him.

A/N- That's it for now! I hope you liked… It's a bit short but hey, next chapter is a bit longer (and the one after that is kilometric!) Hehe, I already have up to chapter 8 written down in my notebook (paper, not PC). So… review!


	6. Chapter 6

**"The Tale of a Broken Man"**

_**By: PsychoHaired**_

Disclaimer: Once again, none of this is mine, except the plot and… yeah.

A/N- So, sorry for last chapter's shortness and occasional grammatical error, I had sped-typed the chapter and well… didn't turn out great. On a side note, the next few chapters will have quite a bit of fluff in them. As most of you may have noticed, Severus isn't being quite "Snape-ish"…yet. That will come later in the story when certain things begin to happen :Ahem: Anyways, thanks to all of you who reviewed, here's chapter six! I hope you enjoy!

**Chapter 6:**

Severus awoke groggily late on Christmas Eve. He sighed and turned on his side, letting his arm droop from his bed. He closed his eyes trying to recall his dream but all he could remember was something about a snake and a bird's nest. He furrowed his brow and pushed himself onto a sitting position. He stayed there for a while, staring out the window, it was snowing. He briefly pondered how dungeons could possibly have windows, but thinking this was rather random and not of significant importance, shrugged it off and went to the bathroom.

After taking a long warm shower he trudged off towards the Great Hall to eat some breakfast (or rather lunch, for he had woken up quite late). When he entered, the room was somewhat empty, save for about five or six students whom he didn't know. He sat down at the Slytherin table and ate.

-o-

Severus sat in the far end of the library floor leafing through _"Hogwarts: A History" _looking for a possible explanation as to windowed dungeons. After a few minutes, he'd found what he'd been searching for:

…Very similar to the charm placed on the Great Hall's ceiling by co-founder Rowena Ravenclaw, the Slytherin bed chambers, located down in the dungeon floors somewhere, had been given charmed windows that mimicked the weather outside. This was done around early nineteenth century due to the gloomy aspect of the dorms…

Satisfied, he closed the book and put it back on its shelf. He closed his eyes and rested his head on one of the shelves and began to drift. He felt someone approach him and sit beside him.

"Hey Lily" he said, not opening his eyes.

"Hey" she sighed.

"Bored?"

"Yeah"

Severus opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling, "Did you know that the dungeon dorms have windows that simulate the weather outside?"

"Really?" she quirked an eyebrow.

"Weird huh?"

She nodded.

"So…"

"Hmm?" she looked at him.

"Are we still going to Slug's Party?"

"I guess, you do want to go right?"

"Yes"

"Then yes. Why?"

"Nothing, just checking"

"Ok"

"Lily?" _is this a date?_

"Yes?"

"Never mind"

"What?"

"Nothing, forget it"

"Tell me"

"It's nothing, I forgot"

"…Okay…"

-o-

Severus returned to his room and looked out the fake window, the sky was a violent shade of pink as the sun ebbed away into the horizon. He gathered his things and went into the bathroom to take a shower, later that night he'd go to the Christmas Party with his best friend. As he turned on the hot water he wondered whether or not this was considered an actual "date". He shrugged, it didn't really matter; he was still going with her; moreover, he was only eleven… that couldn't possibly be a date. He lathered the shampoo onto his hair, "Besides…" he rinsed "… it's not as if I _fancy_ her" he stepped out of the shower, dried himself off and started combing his hair.

"Ah, you say than _now_" his reflection winked at him.

"Shut up" he glared at the mirror.

"Well _I_ wasn't the one musing aloud for the whole world to hear"

Severus stalked off and silently thanked Merlin he had the dorm to himself. He sauntered over to his trunk and pulled out a black button-down shirt. He buttoned it up and slid into a pair of jeans, pulled on his trainers and exited the dorm. Walking through the passageway he shoved his hands into his pockets and continued his way towards the Great Hall where Lily said they would meet.

When he arrived, Lily wasn't there yet so he sat on the floor, leaning against a column. Severus looked around at the sound of footsteps approaching him.

"Hold on a tic" Potter's voice bounced off the high ceiling "I smell something foul…" he stepped next to Severus, Black behind him.

"It's just dear old Snivellus" Black chided.

"Why so dressed up Snivelly?" Potter jeered

"It's none of your bloody business" he turned away "imbecile," he muttered.

"What did you just call me?" a tone of viciousness surfaced as he drew out his wand.

"You heard me" Severus standing up also, drawing his wand out.

"That's what I thought" Potter and Black closed in on him.

"That's a first, I bet it'll be headline news! '_Incredible but true: Potter Thought!'_" he sneered.

"Why you…

"Potter! Leave him alone you insufferable git!" Lily fumed.

James gaped at her; she looked extraordinarily pretty tonight.

Lily glared at him "Why don't you take a picture?"

"Listen Evans, about earlier…"

"Don't bother and leave me alone!"

Potter's cheeks reddened and he walked away, Sirius close at his heels.

"Ready?" she asked him as if nothing had ever happened.

"Right" his face burned as he tucked his wand away.

"You look _cute_ in that shirt Sev" she laughed.

His face burned redder "Er… thanks, you look pretty too" he mumbled.

She smiled at him and pushed the door to Slughorn's Party open.

"Lily! Glad you could make it. Oho! I see you've brought your brilliant potions partner. I daresay I've invited this remarkable bloke quite a few times and sadly he'd declined every single one of my invitations. Well I don't know why, but I'm glad you both could make it. By the way, have you met Arnold Applebomme? His Grandfather used to be Minister of Magic! Very close friend." He waved at a fellow in his teens talking to a pretty-looking Ravenclaw. "Excuse me," he placed his hand on Lily's shoulder "Ah Wetherby! Nice to see you m'boy! How's your uncle…"

Severus and Lily drifted around the room. Lily would often stop and chat with somebody she knew, Severus would stay beside her nodding and smiling occasionally.

"I'm going to get some punch, are you thirsty?" he asked her.

"Oh yes, thanks"

"I'll be right back"

"Ok"

Severus went to the punch bowl and served a glass for Lily and him. When he turned around he stopped short and glared. Potter was talking to Lily, not that she looked particularly happy about it, suddenly James pointed up with a sly grin. Severus noticed; much to his and Lily's dismay, that both she and James were standing underneath the mistletoe. Severus clenched his wand ready to hex Potter into oblivion but before he drew it out, James leaned in. Lily slapped him hard across the face just before he was about to kiss her, then she stomped on his foot forcefully and turned around.

"Can we go?" she asked distraught

He nodded and followed her out the door quickly glancing back at James whom was left gaping like a fish out of water.

-o-

Severus awoke early on Christmas day to find a small mound of gifts at the foot of his bed. He grinned and took the first package, it was from Cissy, it was a book on werewolves; he set it aside to read later. He took the next box and opened it; it was a Portable Wizarding Wireless Network from the Morrises. He briefly scanned its features, (Five station savers, surround sound, muggle station reception, all in a handy, pocket size contraption!). He grabbed another parcel; it was new clothes, also from the Morrises. He grabbed the last box, which came from Lily. It had a card attached to it:

_Happy Christmas Severus! Do you want to build a snowman?_

_-Lily_

Severus grinned again as he proceeded to open the gift, it was a brand new set of Gobstones. He smiled again at the gift and jumped out the bed to get dressed. When he pulled the sweater over his head he went to grab the book Cissy had given him. He noticed an envelope in between the wrapping paper. Severus took it curiously and read the front:

_To: Severus T. Snape_

_Azkaban Prison_

Severus dropped the book with a dull thud and whispered "Mum…" he opened the envelope and read the letter.

_Happy Holidays my dear Severus. I hope you're having a wonderful time at Hogwarts, please take care. Love,_

_Mum_

_On behalf of Azkaban Prison we'd like to wish you and your family a Happy Christmas!_

Severus grimaced at the parchment. He felt guilty, it was Christmas, a time to be with family, and he was here, selfishly opening gifts thinking about fun and friends… He took off his shoes and flopped down on the bed, troubling thought circling his mind. He didn't know how much time he spent there but came out of his reverie as an owl swooped through the slightly open door and landed squarely on his head, jumping up and down.

"Hey! You ruddy bird! Get off me!" Severus swatted it away, the owl hooted delightedly and stretched out its tiny leg. Severus took the parchment from it, scowling at the little owl that was now jumping on his desk and making little ink prints all over it.

_Severus, I've sent my new owl Ringo to wake you up, isn't he cute? Please get up! It's Christmas! I want to spend time with you!_

_-Lily_

Severus stared at the little grey owl again. "Ringo?" he quirked an eyebrow as the owl gave him a hoot. Severus sighed, "Oh all right…" Ringo hopped excitedly and perched itself on his head again "Ringo!"

-o-

"Happy Christmas Sev!" Lily came running towards him.

"Happy Uff!" Lily had just hugged him. He hugged her back awkwardly.

"I see you've met Ringo" she grinned at her owl hopping on Severus's head.

"Yes I have…" he said sourly.

"He's so cute!" she smiled widely as Ringo perched itself on her shoulder and nipped her ear affectionately.

"Yeah well **_Ringo_** scared the wits out of me"

"I'm sorry, but I just wanted to see you, it's already past noon!"

"I wasn't sleeping" he mumbled.

"Then why?"

"I got a letter from mum"

Her expression softened "What did she say?"

"To have a Happy Christmas and that she missed me"

Lily gave him a sympathetic smile.

Severus looked away.

"Do you still want to build a snowman?"

He nodded.

She smiled broadly "By the way… those quills you sent me, why are they deluxe?"

"Oh! Well, they're _sugar_ quills… they're made of crystallised sugar"

"They look like real quills!" she laughed.

"That's the whole point, that way you can have sweets in class"

"I'm going to try one of those" she rummaged in her pocket and took out the quill. "Mmm, they're really good!"

"I thought you'd like them" he stepped on the cold, damp, crunchy snow. Lily kept sucking on her quill until they reached a suitable spot. Lily flopped down on the ground and started piling up snow. The started talking about random things, Severus pointed out his favourite food was mashed potatoes with butter; Lily expressed an irrational fear of cockroaches. Severus went on to saying it was a good thing he hadn't given her cockroach clusters; she gave an involuntary shudder. Lily told him what she'd gotten for Christmas, clothes from her grandparents, sweets from her friends, Ringo from her parents and the new Beatles' LP from her parents.

"But the LP doesn't work here" she sighed.

"Who the heck are the Beatles?"

"It's a band" she smiled widely "They're my favourite!"

"Never heard of them…" he looked taken aback at her shocked expression.

By now, the small mound of snow reached their waists. They continued talking and piling up the snow. Severus asked her about her family, Lily went on to explaining she lived in an urban neighbourhood, that she was the youngest and how Petunia had 'disowned' her after learning she was a witch.

"Typical muggle" he scoffed.

"Excuse me?" she sounded offended "Just because my sister is… is a bit-

"Of a bigot?"

"No!" she turned around grumpily.

"Lily! I'm- Pardon me, it wasn't my place…" he mumbled. She seemed to relax a bit and turned around.

"Not every muggle is like your father Severus" she whispered.

Severus looked away.

She kept on piling the snow and pressing it together with her ungloved hands. They worked in silence for a few minutes and started talking again as if the argument had never occurred.

"Um, Lily?"

She looked up.

"Why does our snowman look like a misshapen potato?" he quirked an eyebrow at the distorted, lumpy snowman. She laughed.

"Well, because it _obviously, _it's a snow-potato, **NOT** a snowman" she burst out laughing.

Severus watched her amusedly.

"What should we call our snow potato then?" he smirked.

"Lumpy?" She got up from the snow, and wrapped her Gryffindor scarf around it.

Severus took off his Slytherin gloves and placed them on the snowman's hands.

Lily grinned at him. He grinned back.

A/N- Well that's it for this chapter! I hadn't noticed how long this was! I'm not sure, could be the longest so far! Next chapter is more or less around this length. Reviews are much welcomed! Happy Holidays!


	7. Chapter 7

**"The Tale of a Broken Man"**

**_By: PsychoHaired_**

Disclaimer: _I don't own any recognizable characters here. Any unrecognizable characters might have been made up by me._

A/N- Hooray! I'm back again with chapter seven! I've been itching to type this on out for two days. Last night I finished handwriting chapter nine, I am quite pleased with how that one turned out. Ooh, last night I drew a little scene from last chapter, I put up a link on my profile page. Anyways, without much further ado, here's chapter seven! Enjoy!

**IMPORTANT: **Every division in this chapter signifies a different day or month.

**Chapter 7:**

Severus sat under the tree by the lake; a book lay forgotten on his lap. He stared at the water, lost in thought. The Giant Squid was floating lazily near the surface of the lake. It was early January and although the weather was fairly cold, the snow was thawing and you could see little patches of green here and there. The squid twisted its long slimy tentacles about, making small ripples, Severus sighed. _'Some Birthday…' _he thought, running his hand through his hair, most of which fell back on his face in limp black curtains. Severus turned his attention to a clump of snow that shaped itself into a snowman-ish figure and started tap-dancing around his foot. Someone giggled behind him.

"Hey"

"Hi Severus" she laughed as she made the thing do cartwheels.

"Are you bored?" he said amusedly, watching her moving her wand like a baton.

"Only slightly" she plopped down next to him.

Severus leaned back against the tree while Lily absently swished her wand about. A large eagle owl swooped down in front of Severus and extended his leg. He took the scrool curiously and read it.

"Who's it from?" she asked.

"Mum"

"What'd she say?"

He gave her the scroll of parchment.

"Severus!"

"What?"

"Why didn't you tell me it was your birthday?"

You never asked" he shrugged.

"Hey!"

"What?" he looked at her. She was laughing uncontrollably as the owl chased the snowman around. It pecked its leg off and it was now dragging itself dramatically on the ground.

"Seriously Sev, I would have gotten you a present"

"You don't have to…"

She sighed and looked at him.

"I have an idea" she smiled and threw her arm around his shoulders. She began singing "Happy Birthday" slightly off key, swaying with the tune.

Severus started laughing.

"I'm not THAT bad" she laughed when she finished.

"You're right… you're _horrible_" he smirked.

"Severus!" she shoved him playfully.

-o-

Severus exited Greenhouse number two covered in mud, muttering curses under his breath. "Stupid plants, devouring everything in sight, making a mess… why do I even bother?" he walked briskly towards the castle looking at his feet.

"Uff!" he stumbled backwards.

"Sorry!" Lily looked startled. "Are you ok?"

"Yes" he brushed some dried mud off his shoulder.

"What happened to you?" she walked next to him.

"Herbology…" he said bitterly.

"Oh!" she chuckled.

"What are you doing out here anyways? Don't you have charms next?"

"I was looking for you, actually" she dug out a small book from her bag. "Happy Birthday"

"Oh! Thanks, you didn't have to-

"I wanted to" she smiled and turned around "Well, I'm off to class. See you later!" she waved.

Severus looked at the gift. It was a small book titled "_An Ambitious Brewer's Pocket Guide: Ingredients, Potions and Helpful Hints"_

-o-

Severus was sprinting through the hall. "Damn! I'm going to be late!" he skived and dodged passersby quickly, trying to make his way to Transfiguration.

"Ow! Watch it Snivellus!" Black yelled as he rushed past him.

"Piss off Black!" he yelled back over his shoulder. Suddenly he felt something pull him against a wall. "What the- He struggled but he couldn't detach himself from the cold stone wall.

The Marauders walked by, laughing derisively. Severus grinded his teeth, trying to himself of his odd imprisonment.

"Mr. Snape! Care to explain the class why you are so late?" And what happened to the back of your robes?" Professor McGonagall eyed him curiously.

"**_Somebody"_** he looked pointedly at Black and Potter, "thought it'd be rather funny to permanently stick me a wall" he clenched his fists.

"Be that as it may, that is no excuse for your tardiness, now take a seat Mr. Snape" she turned her back to the board.

Severus glared at Potter and his gang who were doubled over in silent laughter.

-o-

The Slytherins and Gryffindors were filing out of the Potions classroom and were marching up the stairs towards the Great Hall. Severus scowled at the Marauders who were still laughing about the robe incident. He loathed that gang, specially Potter and Black, Pettigrew was just a pathetic wannabe and Lupin was a spineless weakling.

"… the look on that git's face was priceless! I mean, James… a Permanent Sticking Charm? Genius! Pure genius!" they laughed uproariously.

Severus grinded his teeth and slid into a secluded niche in the wall. The marauders walked by him as Severus brandished his wand.

"Diffindo", he muttered under his breath. The Marauder's robes split apart at the seams and fell on the floor. They were left standing in the middle of a crowded hallway in their knickers. Severus snorted and slid through a nearby tapestry that led him towards the East Wing of the castle.

"Snivellus you are going to pay!" he heard on of them scream. Severus burst out laughing through the dimly lit tunnel.

-o-

"Merlin what happened to you?"

"Purple Bulbous Boils Jinx" Severus muttered and wobbled towards the nurse.

He was covered in purple, pus-filled boils that pulsated in a very odd way.

'_I'll get you all eventually' _he thought sinisterly.

-o-

Severus woke up to a particularly hot day in a very foul mood. That last week had been murderous as the final exams drew nearer. Even Potions, which was easily his best subject, became tedious and rather annoying. Maybe it was due to the fact that he was no longer working with Lily. He scratched the back of his neck, it was moist and sticky from sweat; so was the rest of him. He threw the covers off him and lied on his back, observing the intricately embroidered canopy and sighed, the back of his throat felt rubbery and dry. Severus groaned and got off his damp covers to get a glass of water.

"Snape do us all a favour and put some pants on"

"Shove it DuBois! It's blazingly hot and I'm not in the mood for your idiocies"

"Touchy" Eric shook his head and fanned himself with some of his review notes.

Severus slammed the door to the bathroom and decided to take a cold shower instead. He stepped into the shower, boxers and all and let the cold water run down his face and back.

'_I hate summer heat' _he thought as he got out. He grabbed one of the fluffy white towels and dried off. He went towards the mirror and looked at himself, he frowned. His jet-black hair was falling in limp curtains over his eyes and a bit past his shoulders. He hesitated and grabbed a pair of scissors from a nearby cabinet. He grabbed a chunk of hair and snipped it off, letting it fall with a soft '_splat'_. He kept snipping away until his hair was about three inches long. He ran his free hand through his newly shortened hair, his head felt light and he also felt a nice cool breeze across the back of his neck. He examined himself in the mirror; he looked completely different.

-o-

"Hey Lily" Severus put his hand on her shoulder.

"Hi Severus" she turned around "Oh my- what happened to your hair?" she shrieked. He jumped back at her reaction.

"Shhhhh!" The librarian glared at her.

"Sorry" she whispered and turned back to him "what-

"I cut it" he ruffled the back of his head uncomfortably.

"Why?" she stared at him oddly, turning her head this way and that examining his new haircut.

""It was really hot… I don't know what possessed me, guess it was just the heat"

She studied him for a moment. "You look so…"

"Weird, I know"

"I guess, but in a good way" She stood up and ran her fingers through it. Severus jumped slightly.

"I umm… I better go now, you're studying" he shifted uncomfortably. "I'll see you later."

"Stay here for a while, it's hot outside"

He obliged and sat down across from her, twiddling his thumbs. She looked at him for a bit, he looked back at her and she smiled, casting her eyes down to her review notes again.

-o-

The bell rang, several students groaned and the furious scratching of quills quickened.

"Times up, quills down" Professor Binns said in a bored tone of voice. "Accio" all the test papers flew neatly into a stack in front of him and the students began to file out of the classroom. Severus thanked Merlin that was the last final he had to take and walked outside in a rather good mood. He lied down under the tree by the lake, head propped up on his school bag, hands behind his neck. He sighed in relief and closed his eyes contently and hummed.

'_No more tests, no more Potter, no more Black! No more teachers, no more homework, no more Potter, no more Black!' _He twitched his foot to the random beat.

-o-

"In fourth place, with two hundred and forty-six points, Ravenclaw!" Some subdued clapping followed.

"In third place…with three hundred and fifty-seven points, Hufflepuff!" Again, some subdued yet a bit more cheerful applause followed. The room fell silent quickly, waiting for the winner to be announced.

"And now the winner, though I must say it was indeed a close one, only won by _one_ mere point… amazing really, the difference one point can make you know. I mean, I still can't believe it myself, one singular point…" Dumbledore surveyed the room and laughed at the tension he'd just created. "The winner… with six hundred and eighty-two points, and the winner of the Inter-House Championship is…" he paused to look around the room once more, blue eyes twinkling "…and the winner is…_SLYTHERIN!_"

The Hall erupted in ear shattering cheers and groans, huzzas and boos. Severus cheered along with his housemates, throwing his hat in the air. When the celebration had died down a bit, the headmaster spoke again.

"Congratulations! And now, some final words; I'd like to wish you all a safe trip back home and I'd also like to issue a warning…" the room fell silent " Times are growing dark, it is my belief that they will grow darker and more difficult still. A dangerous man is steadily rising to power" he paused surveying the room of alert students "…a man who goes by the name… of _Lord Voldemort_"

A/N- Dun dun Dunn! Finally! Lord Voldemort makes an appearance! And trust me… it won't be the last you hear from him. Now… the next chapter will be a series of letters Lily and Severus send and receive during the Summer Holidays. I hoped you enjoyed this chapter! Please Review!


	8. Chapter 8

**"The Tale of a Broken Man"**

**_By: PsychoHaired_**

_Disclaimer:_ I don't own any recognizable characters... Yadda, yaddy, yadda… My plot, not anyone else's.

A/N- Woot! I am officially on Christmas break, which means no more school for me! At least until January 11th… meh, it's a start. Anyways, you might be expecting a lot of updates this break … I'm sorry I have to be the bubble buster here but… I'm leaving this Thursday for my mum's apartment and wont be back until January 1st. Now, normally I would continue to write it over there since they have a computer but, sadly, they lack Microsoft Word… the trial version expired so… yeah. Anyways, after that I will be able to write more. One thing I CAN do though, is keep writing it by hand, right now I have up to chapter nine and most of chapter ten complete. Tonight I'm pretty sure I'll start writing chapter eleven. In other news, I drew another scene from last chapter, if anyone would like to check that out just go to my profile and click on "Snape's Haircut". And now, before I write a whole page of an author's note… Chapter 8! Enjoy!

**IMPORTANT:** The following are a series of letters Lily and Severus sent each other during the summer holidays.

**Chapter 8:**

_Hey Severus! How are you? I hope you're having a wonderful time. My mum and dad told me we were going to France! I'm so excited! I've always wanted to go there. Too bad Petunia has to go too… The nerve of her! She threatened poor Ringo for chirping at her! Anyways, we're leaving on a muggle airplane next week! I'd better go now, Ringo just got into Petunia's room and she's throwing a fit!. How I wish he'd leave a little present of her head… but alas, can't always get what we want huh? Bye!_

_-Lily_

_-o-_

_Dear Lily, Ha ha! You're so evil. That's great that you're going to France! I hope you have fun there. Everything here is fine, although that bloke Professor Dumbledore was talking about has been appearing more and more in the Daily Prophet. Apparently he's an anti-muggleborn, blood-purist bigot. Be careful Lily ok?_

_-Severus_

_-o-_

_Hello Sev! Yeah, I've been hearing about that awful man in the Daily Prophet a lot too. (I subscribed; it's driving my sister mad!) I'm not that worried, he's probably some crazy psycho who just wants a bit of fame, I don't think he'll get very far. In other news, I'm leaving tomorrow! I'm so excited! I also wanted to ask you to join me in a game of mail chess. I saw it on a muggle movie yesterday and I wanted to try it out. So… I'm black; you start? Bye!_

_-Lily_

_-o-_

_Dear Lily, Sure! I'll play, but you know I'm horrid at the blasted game. I trust you had a safe trip? Everything here is fine, I've started working on our summer work and I've also been making up (or trying to anyways) new spells. It's pretty difficult, I'm trying to get this needle to attack at will but so far I've only got it to tap-dance for some reason… Anyways, hope you enjoy France!_

_-Severus _

_P.S- Pawn to E3_

_-o-_

_Hi Severus! France is beautiful! It's so amazing! I wish you could see it, the city is packed with boutiques and little cafes, and it's just so cool. I'm having a wonderful time here. Tomorrow we're going to see the Eiffel Tower! Well, I better go now, have to go to bed!_

_-Lily_

_P.S. Pawn to D3_

_-o-_

_Dear Lily, Sounds like you're having a great time in Paris. I still haven't got that needle working, although now it growls at passersby… oh well, it's a start, I'll get it down eventually. I finished all of my assignments so now I have more time to work on that spell… thank Merlin I live with qualified wizards, I can't imagine how weird it must be for you to be without magic._

_-Severus_

_P.S.- Pawn to D3_

_-o-_

_Hey Sev! I'm going back home tomorrow, ahh… I'll miss France. But I'm itching to get back home too. I just got back from the hotel pool, I'm beat, need sleep._

_-Lily_

_P.S. Pawn to D4_

_P.S.S. Here's a picture of me in Eiffel Tower!_

_-o-_

_Dear Lily, I hope you had a safe trip back home. Is that other girl your sister? She looks nothing like you! Looks like you were having a really great time that day. I'm still working on that bloody spell… It's almost perfect except that the needle runs away from its victims squealing! Stupid thing… I think I need to brush up on my Latin… the wand work seems to be all right, and I'm pretty sure it's the incantation that's wrong. Anyhow, welcome back!_

_-Severus_

_P.S. Pawn to E4_

_-o-_

_Hey Severus. I'm finally home! I just got back from my grandmother's house and I'm starving! Ok, got a sandwich. You tricky monger! As soon as I capture your pawn you'll capture me back! I thought you said you were horrible at the game! Oh! I sent you some Bon-bons from France; they're really good! I hope they don't melt though…_

_-Lily_

_P.S. Pawn to E5 (not fair!)_

_-o-_

_Dear Lily, Ha! Life isn't always fair Lily. I got your Bon-bons, they didn't melt too much, they were great though. I finally got the spell to work! I got the needle to attack a small origami bird! Now it's all holey. I need to get a Latin thesaurus or something though… I'll ask Janice for one later. _

_-Severus_

_P.S. Pawn to E5 (**SO** fair!)_

_-o-_

_Hey Sev! It's **SO** not fair! I started my homework today; Professor Binns gave us such a big reading list! How could you have finished already? It's physically impossible! I'm having some old muggle friends over tonight. I've missed them so much! Mum's teaching me how to cook… I'm SUCH a disaster… I couldn't even make pancakes! Why on Earth am I good at potions and horrid at cooking? It's the same difference! It doesn't make the slightest sense to me… Oh! I've sent you this Latin Thesaurus, my dad has loads at home (he's a Latin Professor at the University), I asked him if I could send you one. He was ok with it (hence the book in your hands). I'll see you later then, Bye!_

_-Lily_

_P.S. Pawn to B5_

_-o-_

_Dear Lily, Thanks for the Thesaurus! It really came in handy. Now I can make the attacking needle warn me of possible intruders. (I think I've developed some sort of small pointy guard dog!) Now though, I'm working on a two-way parchment… I've heard it's been done but they usually don't last more than an hour. I'll let you know if I get somewhere with it._

_-Severus_

_P.S. Pawn to B6_

_-o-_

_Hello Severus. Just one week until school starts! Can you believe that? I can't wait to see everybody again! I was planning to go to Diagon Alley with mum on Thursday, would you like to meet us there? I've got to go! I left the chicken in the oven and something smells burnt… not again!_

_-Lily_

_P.S. Let's continue the game over the next holidays ok?_

_-o-_

_Dear Lily. I'm sorry but I can't meet you on Thursday, I already went to Diagon Alley and Janice is sick. I'm staying here with Phil to take care of her. We don't know what's wrong with her, I'm making her an elixir to help her get better. Speaking of which, I need to stir it in exactly ten minutes. I'll see you on the train though!_

_-Severus_

_P.S. Still no progress with that two-way parchment_

_-o-_

_Hi Sev! Did you hear about that slaughter in Kent? Three muggle families and a weird skull floating about… you don't think it's the same guy do you? Alice lives near Kent… I hope she's all right! I'm so worried… By the way, I hope Janice gets better soon! I'll see you tomorrow!_

_-Lily_

_-o-_

_Dear Lily, sent this just as soon as I got your letter, I told the Morrises owl that I wanted you to get a response the same day. Don't worry about Alice; she's from a pureblood family, remember? The slaughter was just muggle families; it had nothing to do with her. Relax!_

_-Severus_

A/N- That's it for now! I know this is short and weird… Next Chapter is much longer than this! I'll see if I can type it all tomorrow… if not you'll just have to wait until January… Read and Review!


	9. Chapter 9

**"The Tale of a Broken Man" **

**_By: PsychoHaired_ **

_Disclaimer:_ I don't own any recognizable characters… now leave my lawyers alone!

A/N- Hello everybody! I'm back! I hope everyone had lovely holidays! I got back a few days ago from Florida and I'm so glad to be home and be able to write. I'd like to thank all of those who read and/or reviewed this story. I hope you're all enjoying yourselves. Now in this chapter we begin Severus and Lily's second year at Hogwarts. So, without much further ado… here's chapter nine! Enjoy!

_Chapter 9:_

The train whistle blew through the air, white steam billowing out of the deep red smoke stack. The platform was crowded with excited chatter, laughter and hooting owls. Severus tucked a chunk of hair behind his ear (it had grown quite fast throughout the summer holidays) as he beheld the familiar sight. He craned his neck trying to catch a glint of red amongst the vast multitude of mostly black and brown haired students. No such luck, Severus cast his eyes downwards, walked through the noisy throng of people and stepped onto the train.

He secured his luggage among the others and walked all the way to the farthest empty compartment like he'd done last year. He slid the door open and sat next to the window, watching everybody going about. His roommate, Eric DuBois, was talking animatedly with a girl Severus assumed was his older sister, they seemed to be laughing at some joke. Severus spotted another one of his roommates, Judas Avery speaking with Rodolphus Lestrange and Evan Rosier whom was holding a long box in his hands, presumably a broomstick. Severus glanced at the barrier; an upperclassman that Severus had heard to be named 'Lucius Malfoy' stepped through, closely followed by his parents.

Severus turned his attention to _"The Ambitious Brewer's Pocket Guide: Ingredients, Potions and Helpful Hints" _and opened the page he had marked earlier. He leaned back against the window, book propped up against his bent leg, arm lazily hanging on the edge of his armrest. Every so often he would chuckle at the stupid mistakes people often made while brewing. _'One of the most common mistakes, for example, is bottling a potion while it's still hot. Not only will it condense and ruin it's consistency, but it's also really hot and could burn your fingers off…'_ He heard footsteps and looked up, just some students running by… he lowered his sight to the book once again _'…to keep cauldrons from rusting, try using lemon juice once a month, it's weak acidity gets into the tough dried potion and dissolves it, plus, it gives a potion an extra kick!' _

"Interesting…" he muttered and flipped the page.

He heard footsteps approaching and the compartment door sliding open, a red haired girl peeked her head in and grinned.

"There you are!" Lily strode over to Severus and flopped down next to him. "Hi!" she said merrily.

"Hey, how are you?" he smirked, glad to see her again.

"I'm great! I'm so happy to be back, I missed you guys!" she hugged him.

Severus received it awkwardly.

"I see your hair is back to normal"

Severus thought he heard a hint of disappointment in her voice but shrugged it off.

"Yes, I had so much _fun_ watching it grow" he tugged at one of the ends.

"Dull summer?"

He shrugged "Pretty much, yes"

The compartment door slid open again, they both looked up, it was one of Lily's friends, Alice.

"Lily?" she looked inside "Hey there! How was your summer? Oh! Hello Snape."

"Alice" he nodded.

"Did you see Cornelia yet?" Alice asked her excitedly.

"No, why?"

"You are NOT going to believe this" she grinned.

"What?"

"She cut her hair up to here!" she motioned towards her chin.

Lily gasped in disbelief "No!"

"Yes!"

"I've GOT to see this!" she stood up abruptly and turned around "I'll see you later Severus, ok?"

He nodded and watched her leave. She was a good five or six centimetres taller than him this year, and noticed, much to his surprise, that she'd begun to _develop_ into a fine young woman, so to speak. Severus shifted uncomfortably as the painfully obvious fact hit him, Lily was a _girl_, girls would eventually grow up and he knew it… it just seemed so bizarre to think of her as a… _her _that he sometimes forgot she was, in fact, a girl.

He looked out the window feeling slightly flushed and pressed his forehead against the cool glass window, they had started to move a while ago and the Hogwarts Express was now speeding along the country-side. He furrowed his brow, since when did Lily act so _girly?_ Severus wondered lazily as he nodded off, Lily still fresh in his thoughts.

-o-

Severus awoke to the dull tinkling of bells, the door slid open.

"Anything from the trolley dear?"

Severus blinked confusedly

"Anything from the trolley?" she repeated a bit more sternly.

"Umm, a packet of chocolate frogs and iced mice please" he yawned as he dug some gold from his pocket.

"That'll be nine sickles and three knuts"

Severus paid for his sweets and thanked her. He sat down to eat one of his chocolate frogs that was trying to jump away. He tried to recall his dream… he had a strange feeling of uneasiness. He bit the frog's head off, trying to work out the details in his head, but all he could remember was something about a snake and a bird's nest… he felt a strange feeling of déjà vu. He swallowed uncertainly and shrugged it off.

-o-

Severus sat at the Slytherin table the next morning eating breakfast with Silas Montague and Eric DuBois.

"Oho! Good to see you again Mr. Snape, DuBois, Montague" Slughorn patted each on the back "I trust you all had a good summer?" They nodded.

"Here are your turntables, see you this afternoon!" he moved along the rest of the table handing out schedules.

Severus eyed the agenda; his first class was Herbology with the Ravenclaws, then Transfiguration with Gryffindor. After that was a short break, then Defence against the Dark Arts with Gryffindor, Charms with Ravenclaw, History of Magic with Ravenclaw and finally Double Potions with the Gryffindors, except on Thursdays when he had Astronomy with the whole second year.

-o-

"Good Morning class, and welcome back. This year we will be working in Greenhouses number two and three with more dangerous and useful plants" Professor Hiedra explained. "Now, please put on your dragon hide gloves, as we will be working with a rather nasty specimen; the _Rosal de Fuego"_ he opened the door to Greenhouse number three and the students filed in in awe. The place looked surreal, filled with plants of all shapes, colours and sizes, it had the feel of a tropical rainforest.

"Now, who can tell me where _Rosal de Fuego_ originates from?"

A few students raised their hands.

"Ah yes, Benson" Professor Hiedra smiled.

"Mexico sir, it means 'rosebush of fire'"

"Very good! Ten points to Ravenclaw. Now, as Mr. Benson explained, _Rosal de Fuego_ or 'Rosebush of Fire' is indeed from Mexico, from southern Mexico to be exact, and it's name… is _quite_ obvious" He revealed a normal-looking rosebush with violently orange roses and yellow thorns. "This may look like your standard-bog rosebush but" he pulled on the dragon hide gloves "When one touches it, like so…" he prodded the _Rosal de Fuego_ and the plant hissed and lashed at his arm with what looked like a fiery whip. "Well, you get the picture" Professor Hiedra stepped away from the plant. "Now, The _Rosal de Fuego_ is very commonly used for potions such as warming draughts and pepper-up potions, the flower in itself is useless, what we want" he paused and broke off a yellow thorn, causing the plant to lash out again "…is this, the yellow thorn, which contains _Rosal de Fuego's_ magical properties." Professor Hiedra led the students to a spot crowded with rosebushes "Whichever house collects the most thorns by the end of the class will be awarded 50 house points, remember your gloves. You may begin— he looked at his watch "Now!"

Severus pulled on his gloves and joined his Slytherin classmates whom where also pulling on their gloves. He strode over towards the nearest rosebush and looked at it hesitantly, he made to grab a thorn and the plant hissed and lashed out, singeing his hair in the process.

"Bloody plant" he glowered and gathered his hair with a ribbon he kept in his pocket for just cases like this. He went for it again, wrestling one of its whips until he finally was able to remove one of its thorns. Severus placed it in his specimen bowl and tackled the plant again.

By the end of the class, Slytherin only had seventy-three, whereas Ravenclaw had collected eighty-five thorns and thus winning the fifty house points. The class exited the hot and humid greenhouse exhausted and nursing several burns and a few cuts. They were all glad to be met by a rush of cool air as they marched off to the castle for their next class. Severus untied his hair and stood in queue outside the transfiguration classroom.

'_This is going to be a long day'_ he thought as the Marauders approached the vicinity.

"Stop it James!" Lily walked briskly, Potter close behind her, pulling one of her scarlet braids.

"Aww, come on Evans! We're just having a bit of fun" Black grinned and swept back his hair, causing a few giggles from nearby girls. Peter was laughing gleefully while Lupin stood there looking uncomfortable.

Lily turned around wielding her wand dangerously "Stop it or I'll hex you into next week!"

"James" Lupin spoke for the first time, putting a hand on James and Sirius's shoulders "Sirius, that's enough, leave her alone"

"Your such a spoilsport Remus" Sirius crossed his arms pouting dramatically.

Lily rolled her eyes and continued into the Transfiguration classroom, sitting next to her friend Alice. Severus had watched the whole thing, annoyance etched all over his face. The only reason he hadn't stepped in was because he had learned the hard way that Lily was quite capable of defending herself. She liked to fight her own battles… much like him. Severus settled down on a desk near the back of the room next to Evan Rosier.

"Good morning, and welcome back" Professor McGonagall greeted. "This year we will be focusing on turning more complex animals, such as amphibians and reptiles, into something of a considerably different size" She paced the room "For example," she tapped a frog three times and enunciated the incantation. The frog quickly morphed into a rather large alarm clock.

After a few minutes, the class began practicing on newts. Severus gave his poor creature a frustrated jab on its side, which caused his newt to turn really fat and emit ticking noises. Rosier wasn't too far ahead either, although his large newt had two bells sticking out of the side of its head.

Potter had turned his into an alarm clock a few minutes ago and was now trying to turn it back successfully. Sirius had inexplicably managed to turn his newt into a large grandfather clock, McGonagall staring at him with an impressed look on her face. Several students were glaring in their general direction. Meanwhile, Lily had been having trouble with hers, Potter had noticed and walked up to her table.

Severus jabbed his newt violently as he watched him, causing his newt to ring sporadically.

Potter stood behind her and helped her position her wand correctly.

Severus fumed, poking the newt repeatedly with the tip of his wand. Lily had got it right and smiled at James, Severus noticed his newt's tail had caught on fire and subsequently charred his sleeve.

-o-

The rest of the day, Severus was in a sour mood and even managed to set his potion on fire (although he had a sneaking suspicion Black had something to do with it).

After having dinner, Severus stomped off towards the library to try and finish the huge pile of homework he'd been sent. On his way though, he was shoved aside by none other that Potter himself.

"Careful slime ball, might slip and fall" Potter jeered.

"Piss off Potter. I've no time to deal with idiots such as yourself"

" A wee bit touchy today aren't we?" he smirked pulling out his wand "Careful. Wouldn't want to use my wand on you, eh?"

"Ha! Your aim is so pathetic I'd be more worried if you aimed towards your own back!" Severus sneered; this was a lie of course. He'd seen Potter tormenting other students and his aim was impeccable.

Potter raised an eyebrow in amusement "RICTUSEMPRA!"

"Protego!" he lifted a shield quickly. A crowd had started to form around the pair. "REDUCTO!" Severus shot.

"Impedimenta!" Potter dodged.

"EXPELLIARMUS!" They both yelled and flew simultaneously backwards as they both got hit and lost their wands.

Potter was livid, and charged towards Severus who did the same. The crowd, which had gotten progressively bigger, began to chant "Fight! Fight!"

Severus punched James's eye whom staggered and backwards, James tackled Severus to the floor, punching his lip. Severus kicked him off and punched every inch of flesh he could reach. James punched him hard on the side of his head, grabbed him by his shirt collar and slammed him against the wall. Severus tripped him on the floor and punched him in the face until someone began yelling.

"POTTER! SNAPE!" Professor McGonagall screamed "Petrificus Totalus!" They both fell on the floor, frozen. Severus was bleeding profusely from his nose and heard a faint ringing in his ear. James was bruised all over, his lip was split and swollen and was sporting a black eye. "Just what in Merlin's beard do you think you two were doing?" she asked shrilly "This is unacceptable! _Ennervate!_ Potter I am very disappointed in you! And as for you Snape! I didn't expect such behaviour from you!" she pulled them both by their ears and dragged them off into her office. As she did so, the crowd began murmuring excitedly. Severus looked back, he spotted Lily staring at the pair; she looked enraged. McGonagall wordlessly opened the door, pulled them in and sat glaring at the pair.

"Sit!" she ordered. They sat down shooting death glares at each other. "Have a biscuit!" she shoved them a tray filled with ginger snaps. Severus eyed the tray confusedly but took one anyway; he didn't dare not to. McGonagall snapped her fingers and a dirty-looking house elf appeared with a resounding '_Crack_!'

"Whimmy, please fetch Professor Slughorn" Whimmy bowed and disappeared with the same resounding '_Crack_!' A few moments later Professor Slughorn came in and looked at the pair of students in alarm "Merlin's beard! What happened to these two?"

"Mr. Potter and Mr. Snape here were fighting in the hall like a pair of wild animals!" her nostrils flared in rage.

Slughorn stared at Severus inquisitively "Is this true Severus?"

"Yes Professor" he mumbled.

"I'm deeply disappointed in you, I do not tolerate theses kinds of behaviour in my house!"

"He provoked me!" she said acidly, pointing at James.

"And as an intelligent Slytherin such as yourself, you should have ignored him! I'm afraid it's two weeks of detention for you! Plus fifty points off"

"Same goes for you James, plus you are banned from Quidditch try-outs this year"

"That's not fair! There's a spot open for a seeker!"

"You should've thought of that before acting like a common hoodlum!"

"But!"

"No more 'but's out of you!"

"However!"

"Do you want any more point taken off your own house?"

"No mam…" he mumbled.

"Good. Now you too go to the infirmary!" she added sternly, guiding them out through the door. Lily was waiting outside.

"Ah, Miss Evans, please escort these two to the infirmary… and make sure they don't kill each other on the way there" Professor Slughorn added as he exited McGonagall's office.

"What were you two thinking?" she glared "You berks!"

"He started it!" Severus pointed at James childishly.

"I don't care who started it!" she glared again. "I didn't expect this from either of you! Honestly! You could've been expelled!" she kept on lecturing them until they reached the Hospital Wing. She wordlessly escorted them in and walked briskly outside without glancing back.

-o-

His first week went by as horrible as his first day. The Marauders had an actual grudge against him for laying his hands on their precious leader. Lily refused to talk to either of them, plus, he was serving two week's worth of detention in the Forbidden Forest with Potter.

"Bloody Brilliant…" Severus muttered to himself as he settled for bed "Just bloody perfect" he spat.

_To Be Continued…_

A/N- That's it! Wow… this was a long chapter! I hadn't noticed… it's one in the morning right now! Well I better get reviews then! I hope you enjoyed this one!


	10. Chapter 10

**"The Tale of a Broken Man" **

**_By: PsychoHaired_**

_Disclaimer: I don't own any recognizable names, characters, places, spells, et cetera… I DO own my pen… no wait… I borrowed that. I don't own ANYTHING._

A/N- Well, I was bored enough to start typing. Rejoice! Just a quick announcement though, there is a new drawing of a scene! It's from the whole "You look cute in that shirt Sev!" thing so go to my profile if you want to check it out. Also, if anyone feels inspired, I'd be glad to showcase your work on my profile as well (with due credit of course!) so just send me a link! Well, that's enough of my rambling for now. Here's chapter ten! Enjoy!

_Chapter 10:_

Severus mad his way to the gamekeeper's hut. Tonight he'd be serving his final detention with Potter.

"Good evening Mr. Snape" the giant man greeted curtly.

"Hagrid" he nodded.

"Well, let's just wait 'til James gets here" he sat down on his huge armchair. "Rock cakes?" he offered them from a plate "Made 'em m'self"

Severus turned them down politely as someone knocked on the door.

"Come in!"

"Hey Hagrid! Sorry I'm late" James walked in "What are we going to do this time?"

"We've got ter find Mortimer" Hagrid said, "Poor little fellar must've been in a fight with its mate" he said gruffly.

Severus shuddered, he knew the giant oaf's idea of 'poor little fellows' and he didn't like it one bit. Potter was looking uneasy as well.

"We're jus' gonna change his bandages and feed 'im this here meat"

"So… what's a _Mortimer_?" Potter asked suspiciously.

"Thestral" Hagrid puffed his chest proudly

"A… what?" Severus said uncertainly.

"A Thestral, now let's get goin'"

Hagrid picked up a pile of raw meat and tossed them at Severus and James.

"Now, yer might not be able ter see them so be careful"

"Are these thestrals dangerous?" Severus asked picking up the meat.

"Oh no, not these. Trained them m'self"

Severus glanced at James who glanced back at him. _'This is going to be a long night'_. He trotted to keep up with Hagrid whom was walking at a fast pace, James close behind. As they entered the Forbidden Forest, the trees started getting thicker and the air was getting darker. Severus though briefly of how stupid it was to be wandering about the Forbidden Forest, in the middle of the night, carrying a sack of raw meat… with all those wild beasts running about, who knows what they could run into! The nerve of that oaf! He could get us all killed! Then again… a dead Potter is much better than a live one… Severus chuckled at this last thought.

"Hurry up there Severus, or you'll get lost!" Hagrid yelled back.

Severus hastened his pace.

They were deep within the forest now, the bases of the trees were as big as houses and the roots protruded from the ground, making it difficult to walk around. After a few hours of fruitless search for the illusive _Mortimer_ Hagrid decided to turn back, it was nearly midnight. Suddenly, a rustle of leaves echoed throughout the deep black silence. Severus's heart pounded heavily in his chest, drawing his wand immediately.

"_Lumos_" he whispered, Potter did the same.

"What was that?" James asked jumpily.

"Shhhhh!" Severus hissed, directing his beam of light where the sound had emanated from. He gasped, a pair of ghostly red eyes blinked at him. "There! Hagrid! There's something there!"

"Where?" James asked pointing his wand in every direction. "I don't see anything!" he was panicky.

The strange creature sniffed the air and approached them. Severus could see the whole thing now. It looked like some sort of reptilian horse with enormous leather wings bent at an odd angle.

"Right there you blithering idiot!" he pointed his beam at the creature, it was about to metres away from them.

"Nothing to worry about" Hagrid approached the creature and tossed it one of the raw steaks in James's bag.

"What's happening to it?" James stepped back, he was referring to the meat.

"This here's Mortimer, it's eating the steak James"

"Hagrid where? I can't see anything" he was confused, staring ghastly at the meat, disappearing bit by bit into thin air.

"Well I didn't expect you could, only people who've seen death can see them" he looked at Severus with a pitying look "You can see it though… can't you?"

Severus nodded, looking away.

"Well, let's see here…" Hagrid surveyed Mortimer, checking for misplaced bones and changed a few bandages on its hind legs. "You two feed 'im the meat"

Severus stepped forward hesitantly, extending his portion of the food. Potter looked bewildered as Mortimer gnawed at his share of meat.

"Well, he seems to be getting better" Hagrid patted the thestral lovingly. "We've better head back, it's late."

-o-

Severus walked into the castle and headed towards the dungeons. His mind echoed with the events that night.

'…_Only people who've seen death can see them'_

'_You can see it though…can't you?'_

He threw himself on his knees, tears rolling down his face. He was shaking, trying to hold back the sobs that threatened to escape.

'_Leave her alone!' _

'_Don't you dare speak to me like that!' _

_'Tobias… please!'_

'_Shut up wench!'_

'_I should've done this when you told me… when you told me what you **were**' _

'_Noooooo!'_

"Are you alright Severus?"

Severus felt a warm hand on his shoulder, tears rolled down his face.

"I just got back from detention Headmaster, I was just heading back" he said quietly.

"I see, but you failed to answer my question. What is bothering you Severus?" Dumbledore looked at him worriedly.

"…we went to the Forbidden Forest… to tend to a wounded thestral…"

"I see… you saw one didn't you?"

Severus nodded heavily.

"Severus… your father was not a very caring person… I know you feel guilty about his death"

"I didn't really care much for my father sir" he stood up, facing him.

"But you feel guilty about your mother… you think she's in Azkaban because of you"

Severus looked away from his deep azure eyes.

"…I think you believe you killed your father"

"But- his voice broke "…I didn't have a wand…" He hesitated "I-I wanted him to die, he was going to kill mum!"

"Severus" Dumbledore kneeled down to face him "…when an untrained wizard is having strong feelings… of fear or anger…or anything. Magic can sometimes spill out unexpectedly."

"You're saying I killed my father aren't you." He whispered looking at the ground through the mist in his eyes.

"No. I'm saying is that either of you could have… or your mother could have. The spell was not intentional Severus, it was not cast from Eileen's wand… magic protected you both"

"…Then _why_ is she suffering so much in prison?" more tears rolled down his face, he clenched his fists and scrunched up his face trying not to cry anymore.

"Because Severus… she wanted to protect you, to give you a _future_"

"How do you know all this?" he looked up into his eyes once more.

"…I know many things Severus" Dumbledore stood up looking detached. "You may want to go to bed before Argus catches you about"

With this, Severus turned around and walked slowly down to the dungeons.

-o-

Severus walked quietly towards the tree near the lake, hoping not to startle a slumbering, scarlet-haired girl. He looked down on her and sat next to her. She had her head propped up on her knees, breathing lightly and peacefully. Severus placed a hand on her shoulder and nudged her gently, Lily breathed deeply and opened her eyes, looking around.

"Hey" he whispered.

"Severus-

"Listen… about that fight with Potter… I was a prick"

"Yes you were" she arched her eyebrows.

"…and I'm sorry"

"It's alright… James started the whole thing" she yawned, "I was just mad at how violently you reacted"

"I know…" he looked down at his shoes "…sometimes people just have had enough" he mumbled.

"I know… it's okay" she gave him a small smile.

Severus cheered up a bit.

"So, being as I'm a good friend, I'm informing you that it's my birthday next week" she laughed

-o-

"What the heck do I get a girl for her birthday?" Severus paced the Common Room wildly about. "Maybe a… a turnip or a… an apple?" he ran his hands through his hair. He groaned loudly and plopped down on the leather couch. "Girls are so bloody difficult" he muttered.

"Well, well, dear Severus is having lady problems?" a sly voice piped up from behind him. Severus turned around and saw an innocent-looking first year with long, jet-black hair and big blue eyes.

"You look familiar… have we met?" Severus furrowed his brow.

"Don't believe we have. I'm Regulus, Regulus Black" he extended a hand.

"You're Bella and Cissy's brother?"

"Cousin, actually, I'm Sirius's brother" his eyes glinted malevolently.

"My deepest sympathies" he said sardonically.

"So what's _your_ problem?" Regulus plopped down next to him.

"Not that it's any of _your_ business, but I'm trying to figure out what to get my friend for her birthday"

"Her being your _girlfriend_?"

"No you runt, she's just a friend"

Regulus rolled his eyes "Right" he looked at him mischievously "Wouldn't happen to be that pretty Gryffindor, eh?" he wriggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"Yes, and her name is Lily Evans" he said acidly.

"Evans? So _that's_ her! Severus she's a mudblood!" he hissed

"Don't call her that!" he glared.

"…but you're a Slytherin, how on earth do you even get _near_ her?"

"I don't much care if she's pureblooded or not" he said through gritted teeth "She is my best friend so bugger off!"

"Well if _you're_ so fond of her she can't be THAT bad… you _are_ quite respected in Slytherin House…"

"That's because I can curse anyone who gives me reason to" he sneered at the little half-pint.

"Get her some music or something, or flowers" he said suddenly "Girls go bonkers for either of those… and chocolate" he smirked and hopped off the leather armchair.

'Bloody little kid… who does he think he is? Niggling, arrogant little bugger… Although… Lily DID say something about missing muggle music…' with this thought, Severus jumped off the couch and headed quickly towards the Library. 

-o-

"Hey Lily" Severus plopped down next to her under the tree by the lake.

"Hello Severus"

"Happy Birthday" he smiled lightly and gave her a clumsily wrapped present.

"Thank you!" she grinned and opened the parcel carefully "What is it?"

"It's a magical playing device"

"Er… a what?"

"It plays muggle music. This one plays records and cassettes"

Her eyes widened "No way! I can finally listen to my music?" she squealed and hugged him. He returned the hug awkwardly.

"You're welcome" he said amusedly.

"No offense…but wizarding music is so…"

"Bland?" he offered.

"Yeah! It's all classical or instrumental… it's nice once in a while but…"

Severus watched her talking, not really paying attention to what she was saying until an expectant look graced her features. He then realized she must've been asking him a question.

"Er… sorry, what?"

"How does it work?"

"Um… I'm not entirely sure… I don't have any records or cassettes or anything so I didn't really get to experiment with it while I was building it…"

"You _made_ this?"

"Well… yeah, but-

"Wow! That's so cool Sev!"

"Er… it's no big deal really…"

"Thanks Sev, this gift really means a lot to me"

Severus felt flushed "You're welcome" he mumbled.

"Accio Ringo" she pointed her wand to the owlery in the castle.

"Going to try it out" she extended her arm and a confused little feathery owl zoomed into the palm of her hand. The owl cocked its head to one side and hooted delightedly at the sight of its master. "Hey there Ringo" she patted the little owl's head "Go get my Pink Floyd cassette, it's on my dresser ok?"

Ringo flew excitedly around her head and perched itself on Severus's hair.

"Ringo! My hair is not a nest!"

Lily laughed, "Go get it Ringo!" The owl hooted again and flew away towards the tallest tower in the castle.

"So… what have you been up to lately? I haven't seen you around much"

"I've mostly been in the Library, reading up on the Dark Arts" he yawned "didn't get much sleep last night though"

"Why?"

"I don't know… some of the upperclassmen were having a meeting in the Common Room… that Malfoy bloke was recruiting members for some sort of club. The Knights of Walpurgis or something…" he shrugged "I don't know… point is, they were arguing all night and I didn't get to sleep much" he leaned against the tree and pushed his longish hair back, it fell immediately back on his face.

Lily tucked her hair behind her ear and cast her eyes upwards. "Here comes Ringo"

Ringo fluttered down on Severus's head.

"Ringo! Get off me!" Severus batted him away while Lily laughed heartily. "Honestly that bloody bird thinks my head is a nest!" he scowled.

"Aw, how can you be mad at such an adorable little owl?" she stroked Ringo fondly. "He only likes to tease you"

"So I figured"

Lily took her cassette and pushed it into a slot on the magical playing device. She pushed a round button on one of the corners and the music began. Severus closed his eyes and leaned back against the tree.

Breathe, breathe in the air 

_Don't be afraid to care_

_Please, don't leave me_

_Look around, _

_Choose your own ground_

Severus's head began to droop slightly as the soporific music continued.

_Run, rabbit run_

_Dig that hole_

_Get the sun_

_When at last the work is done_

_You'll sit down; it's time to dig another one._

-o-

Severus felt a cold drop on his forehead, then another and another and another. He opened his eyes slowly and rubbed them, he realized he was outside and it was beginning to rain. His bed moved, '_wait…beds don't move, and they're certainly not outside in the rain'_ He looked down _'Oh wait…'_ he sat up straight; he'd been leaning on Lily whom was beginning to stir Severus flushed and the rain poured harder.

"Lily wake up" he shook her a bit.

"Hmm?" she opened her eyes "Sev?" she looked around "I'm sorry, did I wake you up? You fell asleep and, you looked so tired before… I was a bit tired too… Pink Floyd tends to do that-

"You're rambling" Severus laughed.

"Sorry" she laughed too "Let's get out of the rain! I'm soaked"

_To Be Continued…_

A/N- Hooray! Wow! This one's nine pages long! I'm so proud! Well here's your chapter! I hope you enjoyed it! I just LOVE writing Regulus… he's so adorable, don't you think? And "My deepest sympathies" was my favorite line to write. Review please!


	11. Chapter 11

**"The Tale of a Broken Man" **

**_By: PsychoHaired _**

_Disclaimer: _After much legal hassle and years of arguing, I have finally persuaded the court that I was the actual person whom wrote the famed Harry Potter series… but on the count of laziness I gave it back to J.K. Rowling because I didn't feel like focusing on that deformed hormone raged scarhead. Instead I have permission to focus on greasy-haired, hook-nosed, hormone raged teenage Snape…not! But I'm going to anyways.

A/N- Well… bad news for me, I can't go out tonight with my boyfriend that for fun's sake I'll call 'Mongoose' so instead you all get an update! Woohoo for you… I miss my Mongoose :frown: Anyways as I've said before, I'll be starting school this Wednesday so updates will not be so frequent. So now that we got THAT done with… enjoy! (And give me reviews so I can finish my homework faster to read them!) Hooray for you guys!

_**Chapter 11:**_

_Add 2g of chopped wormwood and stir counter-clockwise until it settles into a nice green colour. _

Severus looked at the instructions on the board once more in puzzlement. "Professor" he raised his hand.

Professor Slughorn looked up from his work desk. "Yes Severus?"

"Is that line correct?" Severus asked.

The professor looked at it for a second and turned his eyes to him once more "Yes, yes it is" he turned back to his work.

"But sir… wouldn't that just cause the ingredients to bunch together?"

Slughorn gave him a mysterious look and continued with his work. Severus shrugged and added a clock-wise stir every seventh counter-clockwise turn. This action caused his potion to bubble momentarily and then settled into a vivid shade of green. Severus looked around and noticed he was further ahead than the other students. He looked at professor Slughorn whom averted his eyes quickly. Severus shot up his eyebrows suspiciously and read the next steps.

_Allow to simmer, and then add 3g of powdered dragonfly wings and 4mL of diluted dragon's blood. Stir clockwise three times. Potion should now be emitting spiralling golden fumes._

Severus glanced at the instructions once more in puzzlement. _'Surely he means add the powdered dragonfly wings to the blood first…' _Severus shrugged and did what he thought was better. He added the wings to the diluted dragon's blood and added it to the potion, stirring it clockwise three times. The potion immediately turned deep blood red and produced spiralling golden fumes. He glanced over at Lily whom was also eyeing the instructions confusedly. She looked amusedly at Severus and he rolled his eyes at Professor Slughorn. Lily chuckled and continued to work.

_Add 25g of minced fleur de lis root and 7mL of Armadillo Bile. Raise temperature of fire until flames are blue. Let boil._

Severus didn't object to this line so he followed these instructions. A few minutes later his potion was bubbling rapidly with a murky brown liquid.

_Sprinkle liberally with pulverized yellow Rosal de Fuego thorns. Stir counter-clockwise until a thick golden paste._

'_WHAT?' _Severus thought bewildered _'stirring it in one direction will make it chunky and gritty. It'll take much less time if I change the direction constantly.' _He thought for a moment and stirred the potion in a "figure-eight" motion. After a few minutes his mixture was a thick golden paste bubbling slowly. Severus put the fire beneath the cauldron out. He looked around; most of the students were still in the earlier stages of brewing. He rolled his eyes and began washing his instruments in the sink. The noise attracted Professor Slughorn's attention and grinned.

"Oho! It seems as though Snape has finished first!" he walked up to his cauldron and looked at it with scrutiny. "The colour is perfect…" he poked the solution with his wand "Consistency is impeccable. I must say, never in my years of teaching have I seen a better bruise healing paste than this! And you brewed it so fast! Congratulations!" he patted him on the back and walked over to Lily's cauldron "Dear Merlin! And Miss Evan's isn't too far behind!" He rubbed his hands together "I always said you should have been in Slytherin" he chuckled.

"And deprive Gryffindor of some of it's glory?" she laughed as she stirred her quickly thickening mixture.

Slughorn laughed heartily.

-o-

"Great job today in potions Sev!" Lily walked beside him.

"Honestly, those instructions on the board were all wrong!" he scoffed "and we're supposed to _learn_ from him?"

"Actually, I think he does it on purpose" she looked thoughtful for a moment.

"On purpose! Are you mad? He should be sacked!"

"Severus! What I mean to say is that those instructions, although inferior, would have made the potion work—

He opened his mouth to object but Lily cut him to the chase

"But, I think he's testing us, see who has what it takes to be a substantial brewer"

"Could be a possibility… but I still think he's nutters" he shook his head gravely.

"Well, I'm off. Tonight's girl's night at Cornelia's dorm" she grinned.

"Girls" he rolled his eyes at her.

Lily laughed "See you later!"

"See you!" Severus turned around and decided to go to the library instead.

He kept walking along the corridors with his hands in his pockets, looking at the other students. Some were enjoying the end of classes for the day; others were talking animatedly with friends. A group of noisy girls passed him, discussing what they would wear to the upcoming Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff match while others discussed homework and upcoming tests. He sighed and pushed open the door to the library.

He walked over to the dark arts section, nodding at the librarian as he passed by. He eyed the several leather-bound books and settled for _'Infamous Curses of the 16th Century'. _He pulled it off the shelf and sat at a nearby table to read.

He was deeply immersed in the third chapter when he was interrupted by a fit of giggles. He looked around curiously and continued to read. A few seconds later, the same giggling interrupted his reading. He looked up in aggravation and spotted Narcissa and Bellatrix hidden behind a bookcase, spying on a blond seventh year. They giggled again and the boy turned around in confusion; it was Lucius Malfoy. Malfoy shrugged and continued reading. As soon as hi did, Bella and Cissy started their giggle fit once more. Severus rolled his eyes and continued reading, only to be interrupted by the incessant giggles. Severus grinded his teeth in frustration and stood up.

"Will you two please keep it down? I'm trying to read!" he hissed.

At this time, Malfoy threw the three of them a glare and moved to another table.

"You're such a spoil-sport Severus" Cissy scoffed and stomped off, closely followed by Bellatrix.

Severus watched them leave the Library in indignation. "Bloody girls…" he muttered and sat back down on the table.

-o-

Severus sat seething, crossed legged on his four-poster bed, looking through his Latin Thesaurus. His scalp stung from washing it so much. And yet no matter how many _'Scourgifies' _and vigorous scrubbing with shampoo, the vague smell of toilet water remained behind. He was still shaking with fury, he'd been so stupid to think that little duel with Potter back on his first day wouldn't have any repercussions.

He flipped another page in annoyance.

_Body: **Corpus, Corporis**_

"Corpus…" he thought and ripped out a page from an old notebook. He tapped it with the tip of his wand and the paper folded itself into an origami person. He flipped through the Thesaurus vigorously.

_Sever: **Abrumpo**_

"_Corporis Abrumpo!_" he blasted the tiny origami man and it ripped itself in half. Severus imagined James's body ripped in half. "…too messy". He tapped the paper with his wand "_Reparo_" The pieces glued themselves back together.

_Pain: **Poena, Dolor**_

"_Corpus Poena_" the paper man shivered. "Well THAT looks interesting…" he rolled his eyes.

After a few hours of fruitless search Severus brushed the book aside. It fell out of his bed. "Bugger…" he bent over to pick it up and something caught his interest.

_Levitate: **Levo**_

He glanced and the origami man and pointed his wand at it "_Levicorpus_!" Nothing happened. "Maybe I pronounced it wrong… _Levicorpus!_" Again, nothing occurred. '_I give up… if Levicorpus doesn't—_

"Whoah!" The paper man was dangling upside down. Severus grinned malevolently. Severus shook his wand; the paper shook with it. "How do I make it stop?" he shook his wand vigorously, the paper still shook with it. He jerked his wand upwards and the paper fluttered down. "Hmmm" he pointed the wand at his own feet '_Levicorpus_' he was hung upside-down by his ankles. He jerked his wand and he fell on a heap on the floor. He rubbed the back of his head tenderly "Should've done that on the mattress…"

-o-

Lily sat down next to Severus whom didn't notice her.

"Severus?" she waved her hand in front of his face.

"Hmm? Hi Lily" he said weakly.

"Are you okay?" she looked concerned.

"I don't know… I'm dizzy… I feel awful" he leaned back against the tree, coughing; his throat felt like it was on fire. He was shivering violently, even though it was fairly warm outside. He looked around disoriented.

"Sev I think you're sick" she placed a hand on his forehead "oh wow! You're hot!" she felt his cheek.

"…not too bad yourself" he passed out.

-o-

Severus awoke and saw a pair of emerald eyes on his.

"What happened?" He sat up slowly; his head was pounding.

"You had a very high fever and you fainted" she looked flushed.

"Oh" his throat rasped.

"I brought you your homework," she pointed at a small stack of books on his bedside table. "The nurse said you had a 40 degrees Celsius fever. You even started to have convulsions on your way here…"

"Oh" he rasped again.

"Don't worry, it's just a throat infection" she chuckled lightly. "Anyways, I'd better go. Madame Promfey said I could stay until you woke up"

"Oh… thanks" he stretched "…bye Lily"

"Bye Sev, I'll stop by later, after classes." She turned to leave "get better soon okay?" she walked out the door.

"Mr. Snape you're up! How are you feeling?" the nurse walked in carrying a bottle of medicine.

"Eugh" he flopped back down against his pillows.

"I thought so…" she poured some bright red liquid into a small cup "Drink up, its pepper-up potion"

Severus took the cup and gulped it down, his oesophagus burned, his eyes watered, and steam came out of his ears.

"Now get some rest, this infection will keep you in here for a few days, I will not have you spread it around the school"

Severus opened his mouth to protest but decided against it, for he immediately felt woozy again and drifted off.

-o-

When he woke up again it was dark, he turned on his side and found a Sugar Quill with a green silk ribbon tied around it; it was Lily's ribbon. Severus felt himself blushing a bit and drifted off to sleep again with a smile on his face.

_To Be Continued…_

A/N- Well, here you have it. This one's not so long as last chapter… actually I think last chapter was the longest so far… anyways, next chapter might be up by next week since I'm starting school again… so much _fun_. I'm pretty surenext chapter is much shorter than this… but trust me… MUCH more interesting than this one. Ooooooh what could it be? Dun dun dunn, anyways, review please!


	12. Chapter 12

**"The Tale of a Broken Man" **

**_By: PsychoHaired_ **

_Disclaimer: _Okay… if you haven't figured it out by now, then I might as well just say I'm J.K. Rowling and give you reason to believe it.

A/N- Hey you guys! I'm back with another chapter! But before I start writing this I must first point out how happy I am to have received 2123 hits on this story! It was truly a surprise for me; this story has actually beaten "Animal Magnetism" by a whopping 1200 points! That's a lot of hits people! So I'd like to thank all you readers out there, this really means a lot to me. Also, I'd like to point out that this has been my absolute favourite chapter to write so far (regretfully one of the shortest too). And finally, I hope you enjoy!

_**Chapter 12:**_

It was a rainy day in November and Severus was sitting in a corner of the Library playing Gobstones with Regulus Black. The latter was in the middle of a long and winding speech concerning his soon-to-be ex-brother.

"…so then Sirius told me he wasn't going back home for the Holidays" Regulus threw the dice, "Well mum was obviously upset, I mean it wasn't enough for him to be sorted into Gryffindor after a long line of strictly Slytherin family members… but to be hanging around that hot-headed muggle loving Potter and those grubby mudbloods…" Regulus shook his head gravely.

Severus glared at him.

"…Sorry, I mean… he's become a filthy blood traitor… Honestly, I'm surprised mum hasn't disowned him yet"

"Your brother is swine but not because he's a '_filthy blood traitor'_ as you so poetically put it," he threw the dice and moved his piece "I don't care much about purity of blood"

Regulus opened his mouth to protest but was cut off.

"I mean sure, there's the status of it all but I mean… if wizards hadn't mixed in with muggles we would have died out, you and I would most likely be inbred morons"

"I guess… but muggles… they're so _dim-witted_" he finished lamely.

"They are filth, but some of them aren't as bad as they seem"

"I think you're hanging out with Evans too much"

"Oh please, you met her and I rather thought you found her fascinating" he rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, well… she's an exception, I hate to say it but I'm rather fond of the little mudblood"

Severus smacked the side of his head.

"Ow! What'd you do THAT for?" he rubbed the side of his head gingerly.

"Don't call her that!" he hissed.

"I'm sorry! It's a habit!"

"You might want to forget that one then" he sneered.

"She's a good-looking bird though isn't she?" Regulus grinned mischievously.

"Uh-what? No! Well, yes she's pretty" he said rapidly "…but I wouldn't really— his face grew hot and let his curtain of hair cover most of it.

"Liar." Regulus stated and threw the dice again "I've seen you looking at her" he grinned mischievously again.

"So what if I look at her?" he said defensively.

"You fancy her, don't you?" Regulus raised his eyebrows.

"Uh-What? No! No that's— Of course I don't! Don't be stupid," he babbled, shifting uncomfortably.

Regulus laughed.

"Shut it, I do not!" he scowled.

"Okay, sure" Regulus shook his hair back chuckling "It's your turn"

Severus threw the dice and grinned smugly.

"What? How! No fair! How'd you win?" Regulus crossed his arms in frustration. "You cheated," he mumbled stubbornly. "Bugger" he scowled.

"Hey there" Lily sat next to Severus. "What are you guys doing?"

"Getting slaughtered in Gobstones by _Prince Charming_ over there" he shot Severus a dirty look.

Lily laughed, "You had no chance, he could be a champion"

"Hey!" Regulus smirked at her "I'm just a naïve little first year" he pouted.

"Aww you're so adorable!" she laughed and hugged him while Regulus winked mischievously at Severus.

"He's just a year younger than us!" Severus rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"Sev you're so sour. Regulus is so cute!"

Severus scoffed. Regulus stuck his tongue out as Lily ruffled his hair fondly.

-o-

Severus sat on a branch of the tree near the lake reading a book. The grass was still wet from the rain earlier that day and the puddles were now sparkling like tiny pools over the afternoon sun.

Severus marked his page and was ready to climb down when he suddenly heard someone approaching; it was Lily. Severus stayed quiet and took out his wand, an idea cropping up in his head. She walked under the tree, Severus grinned and aimed his wand between her shoulder blades '_Levicorpus_' he thought. Lily let out a shriek of surprise as she was jerked upwards by the back of her robes right side up, unlike Severus who had been hanging by his ankles a few weeks before. He laughed at her shocked expression and set her down carefully next to him on the thick tree branch.

"Severus what on Earth?" she waved her arms about.

He laughed.

"You nearly gave me a heart attack!" she said frantically.

"Sorry" he laughed again. "I just fancied some company"

"You should have asked like a normal human" she rolled her eyes. "Was that a non-verbal spell by the way? I didn't hear you at all!"

"Yes"

"Wow! I've tried to do those myself but I haven't quite got the hang of it yet. That's sixth year material!" she looked impressed.

He shrugged.

"Makes sense that you don't find them hard though, since you're good at potions and stuff like that"

"Why do you say that?"

"Oh, well you see, I read that wizards who are good at wandless magic; such as potions in your case, tend to be really good at non-verbal spells and other magic that requires great concentration"

"Oh, well then I bet you'll be good at those too"

She laughed and shifted her position to face him. "What are you doing up here anyways?"

"Reading"

"But why up here?" she repeated.

"The grass is wet, I don't know about you, but I don't really fancy walking around the castle with a wet butt" he smirked.

"Oh" she laughed again. "Nice view from here though…" she stared out into the lake for a few minutes. The sun was beginning to set.

Severus contemplated as the radiant orange rays hit her brilliant mane of red hair. It seemed to him that it glowed like fire. His eyes travelled to hers, still focused on the lake scenery, she shifted her head a bit and the rays filtered through her almond eyes, making them sparkle like fine-cut emeralds. Severus felt his heart race.

"Hey Sev?"

He shook out of his reverie with a bit of embarrassment, she didn't seem to notice.

"Yeah?"

"What's your favourite colour?"

He looked at her eyes "Green."

She laughed, "Typical Slytherin."

"What's yours then? Red?" he smirked.

"Blue actually"

"Okay"

Severus stared at the golden leaves above them; one of them fluttered down and tangled itself in Lily's hair.

"Oh um… there's a leaf in your hair" he pointed at his own.

"What, here?" she patted the general location he had pointed out.

"No, higher, to the left… no my left" he laughed "No, here I'll get it"

He leaned towards her, holding himself steady with a thin branch nearby and reached for the little golden leaf. She leaned in closer so he could remove it. Severus picked it out and let it flutter down to the ground.

His eyes fell on her lips, and his cheeks grew hot, he felt his stomach flip. Severus met her gaze and slowly closed his eyes, shifting his weight to his hands, leaning in slowly, heart racing, cheeks burning. The thin branch Severus was holding onto snapped and he plummeted down to the wet ground in a heap.

"Oh my gosh! Severus are you alright?" Lily looked down in alarm. "Are you hurt?"

Severus was sure his face must be redder than the sunset itself, he tried to get up and yelled out in pain, "My arm!"

Lily climbed down fast and tried to help him up.

"Ow! Ow! Don't touch me! I think I broke my arm!" he hissed in pain a few tears (mostly because of the pain, but some because of embarrassment) streaming out of the corners of his tightly shut eyes.

"I'll go get you some help Severus!" she ran towards the castle.

Severus watched her leave "I'm such a berk!" he yelled at himself "What did I just do?" he sat up with great difficulty "What was I thinking? Was I even thinking!" he was breathing hard, "Blithering idiot!" he hung his head, cheeks still burning, eyes stinging with salty tears.

-o-

"There he is" Lily pointed at him, followed by Madame Promfey.

"You again?" she rolled her eyes and jabbed his broken arm with her wand.

"Argh!" his face screwed up in pain. His bones began to re-arrange themselves painfully back into place.

"Come on Mr. Snape, you'll need a Pain-killing potion"

Severus followed the nurse to the Hospital Wing. She was muttering furiously about him being incredibly accident-prone. Lily stayed behind and sat by the tree, Severus looked at her; she avoided his eyes.

"…how you've managed to survive this long in this school is beyond me I'll tell you that much. In my day…" Madame Promfey kept on ranting.

'_Effing Idiot!'_ he thought furiously as he looked down at his shoes.

_To be Continued…_

A/N- First of all… **PLEASE DON'T KILL ME** for doing that to poor Sev! Also, I hope you guys enjoyed this. And last, but not least… I drew a very special scene for this chapter! Three guesses what it is… go to my bio page and click on the link to check it out! Anyone interested in using it for backgrounds, avatars, etc. can do so as long as I get credit for it. Anyways, this new chapter was up by this weekend (with days to spare) so I think I deserve at least one review from you, eh? Love you guys! Next one MIGHT be up on Monday (free day Woot!) If it's not up then, it'll be up by next weekend instead. Cheers!


	13. Chapter 13

**"The Tale of a Broken Man" **

**_By: PsychoHaired_ **

_Disclaimer:_ I don't own any of these characters or places, if I did … I don't think they'd be here in the first place… and Ron and Hermione would be together already…

A/N- Here I am again with a new chapter! Like I promised, on the weekend. It's time to rejoice (again). So, this week was my Senior Ring Ceremony and the after-party was awesome, I just got back from a field trip to a local hotel (which was also awesome) and decided to treat you to an early update! Hooray! Ok, so about this chapter, it's MUCH longer than last one, I promise and well… you'll find out once you finish reading it! Enjoy!

_**Chapter 13:**_

Severus spooned another helping of mashed potatoes and butter onto his plate for lunch. He looked up at the Gryffindor table and spotted Lily, she was talking to her friend Cornelia. Cornelia laughed, Lily looked his way and met his eyes; she looked away quickly. Severus scowled at his mashed potatoes. "Fool" he muttered to himself. _'I can't believe I tried to **kiss **her! How stupid can I get!'_ He groaned inwardly, '_I'm such an IDIOT!' _he punched the table furiously, causing many people to look his way. Severus excused himself embarrassedly and strode off to the Library until his next class.

Severus sat at his usual table and plonked his head on his crossed arms. _'Idiot, idiot, idiot!'_ he thought in frustration. _'I can't believe I was so stupid! She must think I'm a jerk! She won't even look at me!'_ He mentally kicked himself, _' Why? Why in Merlin's sake did I have to go and to THAT?' _Severus groaned again. _' She hates me! She really does! I swear, not a single glance! She can't stand to see my face! Everything was perfect! Brilliant, in fact and I had to go ahead and pull a stunt like that. What the hell was I thinking! I wasn't EVEN thinking! Why did I try to kiss her in the first place?' _Severus looked up "No." he shook his head _'No, I refuse to believe it. No way in hell will I believe it. That's sick! She's… she's like a sister to me! No! I'm just delusional… maybe it was some weird Levicorpus side effect. It's because I hit my head… yeah that must be it. Just hit myself too hard…' _a nagging voice that sounded oddly like Regulus's at the back of his head thought the contrary. _'**You fancy her'** 'I do not!' '**Oh yes you do'** 'Shut up! Stop thinking about Lily!' _he shut his eyes tightly in concentration. _'Mustn't think of Lily! Umm… Hogwarts, Potions, corridors, spells, kill Potter, green eyes, and red hair… argh! No! Get out of my head! She won't even look at me! Argh! Girls are so bloody difficult!'_

The bell rang through the halls signalling the beginning of classes. Severus stood up hastily, thankful for his next class. _'At least it's History of Magic… no Gryffindors there'_ he sighed, trying (and failing) to think about Lily.

He walked hastily down the hall towards Professor Binns class. As soon as everybody was seated, Professor Binns began to drone about the Great Goblin Wars in 1592. Severus made sure to jot down every single word Binns uttered, not because of particular enthusiasm for the class (far from it), but it kept his mind from wandering towards Lily. Much to his dismay however, the class ended an hour later, much too soon for his liking, and as he packed his things; he dreaded the next class, Double Potions with the Gryffindors. Severus considered playing sick for the following two hours, but thought better of it when he remembered they were to take a practical test that day. He walked down the corridors determinedly reciting everything he had jotted down in the previous class. _'Gargledook was the leader who riled up the goblins in 1587 for unjust treatment in the Ministry. By August of the same year most of the Goblins in Great Britain had conglomerated and started organizing troops and war plans against wizards, threatening war if they didn't stop their unjust treatment. Romulus Sharpcap, Minister of Magic of the time, agreed to sign a peace treaty with the goblin leader Gargledook but unfortunately, Romulus Sharpcap died in a freak circus accident a week before the treaty was signed. His successor…'_

Severus was shaken out of concentration when Professor Slughorn came into the room.

"Good News! I hope everyone studied for the practical test!"

The class gave a collected groan.

"You will be brewing in pairs," Professor Slughorn continued cheerily. Some people started to look for partners. "Sit back down, I have arranged the pairs myself" he puffed out his chest proudly.

Severus wasn't paying attention.

"Mr. Black with Ms. Tulane, Pettigrew with Mr. Brown, Rebecca Caldwell with Miss Narcissa, Potter and Montague…"

He listened dully as his classmates were paired off, balancing a quill on his index finger.

"And finally, my star pupils, Severus and Miss Evans!"

Severus dropped his quill in shock and stared at Professor Slughorn. Slughorn winked at the gaping pair and addressed the class. "You will be brewing the Blood Replenishing Potion on page 156 of your textbooks, which you may all use."

Lily walked towards his table, looking down at her feet. Severus's palms became sweaty and a prickling heat rose to his cheeks. _'Damn! Out of all the people! Why pair me off with her today? Just don't think about it…'_ he released his breath, realizing he'd forgotten to breathe.

"…Shall we start?" Lily asked shyly, eyes on her opened textbook.

Severus gave a non-committal shrug and started preparing the ingredients and setting them on the table. He observed Lily out of the corner of his eye; she was tying her hair back with a green ribbon. Severus began mincing the lilies of the valley and wondered vaguely why she always wore green ribbons in her hair. "Ow!" Severus drew his finger back in pain; he'd cut himself. He looked at the book and measured four grams of unicorn hair. He felt her eyes on him; he looked up. Lily looked away hastily and dropped the lacewings she was supposed to be powdering.

Severus set the water in his cauldron to boil and re-read the first instructions. They both reached for the chopped toad liver and brushed hands. Severus retreated his rapidly and took the dragon scales instead. She dropped the liver inside and Severus tipped the scales after her.

Lily muttered the incendiary spell while Severus carefully dropped three phoenix feathers inside and stirred the potion, watching it turn brilliantly red.

Both Lily and Severus reached for the bowl of ground bicorn and brushed hands once again. Lily muttered a quick apology and let him tip the bowl over the potion while Lily stirred their concoction again, making it fizz into an electric blue colour.

Severus turned the temperature down and sat on his stool, looking at Lily fiddle with the unicorn hairs. There was an awkward and uncomfortable silence between them. Severus looked down to the lily roots on the table, fidgeting with the hem of his robes. He tied his hair back with the ribbon Lily had given him. The potion began to hiss, which was the sign to add the lily roots. They both stood up abruptly and turned the temperature up. The potion had acquired a dull orange mist above its surface. Severus carefully dropped the lily roots in the potion and the mist began to fade. Now came the crucial part; adding four grams of unicorn hair, one by one as soon as a large bubble floated to the surface. As soon as this happened, Severus began to drop the hairs, one by one. Lily made to grab some of the hair too, but he recoiled at her touch in surprise and dropped them all at once.

"Oh no!" She gasped as their potion began to froth violently into a jet-black colour.

The cauldron started whistling and shaking, Severus's eyes grew wide and ducked under his table. "Look out!" he yelled. The potion blew up, sending the jet-black potion everywhere. Lily covered her face with her hands in shame as the students began to laugh.

"Merlin's beard! Are you two all right?" Professor Slughorn rushed towards them.

Severus nodded while Lily hid her face in her hands. A few students were still chuckling. Professor Slughorn's expression softened as he watched Lily.

"Don't worry, you can remake the test in my office this evening." He placed a hand on her shoulder "Are you quite sure you're all right Miss Evans?"

She looked up, near tears.

"It's all right now. Everyone makes mistakes" She looked at the floor wiping her eyes.

The bell rang and everyone began to file out of the classroom after taking a sample up to the Professor's desk.

'_I'm such an idiot! This is my entire fault! I'm such a coward!'_ Severus thought in frustration _'Just when I thought things couldn't possibly get any worse…'_

"Way to go Snivelly" James shoved him into a wall "You went and made Evans cry!" He pushed him again "You're a slime ball" he growled

"Sod off Potter!" Severus replied viciously.

"You pathetic snake! I swear, if you hurt Evans—

Severus stomped off, unable to hear what he'd do to him, leaving James dangling upside down in the middle of the hall in nothing but his underpants.

'_Sodding little worm! Who does he think he is! It's not like I did it on purpose! Grrr! Why am I such an idiot all of a sudden! It's not fair! Why me? Why her? Of all people! For Merlin's sake! Stupid, idiot, Sodding berk! …I should've apologised… I'm such a jerk! How do I even apologise from THIS! "Er… sorry to bother you Lily, but I just wanted to apologise for trying to kiss you and ruining our friendship, blowing up our test and possibly ruining your grade, making you cry and leaving you alone afterwards" Oh yeah… that'll be **brilliant **just… bloody perfect. Stupid tree branch…'_ he scowled.

-O-

Severus sat moodily on a leather armchair in the Slytherin Common Room. He was angrily crumpling a wad of paper in his clenched fists muttering to himself.

"Hello there Severus! Whoa… you look like you're in a great mood" Regulus sat down across from him.

"Piss off" he muttered.

Regulus ignored this last comment and continued talking "I just saw Lily in the Library, she looked really upset. Do you know what happened or what?"

"I said 'Piss Off,'" he said through gritted teeth.

Regulus pressed on "You wouldn't have anything to do with it would you?" He cocked an eyebrow inquisitively.

Severus scowled at him

"I'll take that as a 'yes'" he continued, "a lover's spat perhaps?"

Severus shot him a death glare.

"I'll take that as another 'yes'"

"Oh will you shut up already!" Severus exploded.

"I can _totally_ see why girls adore you _Prince Charming_" Regulus rolled his eyes. "Look, if you had anything to do with it you better apologise or something because she didn't even say how adorable I was or hugged me or anything! You know how I—

"Go away and leave me alone midget!"

"Geez! Alright with the name calling _lover boy_" Regulus stood up "You know… she really **_did_ **look upset" he left.

'_Just bloody PERFECT'_ He punched the armchair furiously.

-O-

Later that night Severus was tossing and turning in his four-poster bed. Loud voices came from upstairs and groggily marched upstairs to find out what was going on. He climbed the stairs that lead to the Common Room and saw many students (most of them uppers) gathered around Lucius Malfoy.

"Alright! Settle down!" He drawled. "As you all know, I was recently recruited by the Knights of Walpurgis"

Several students cheered.

"Thank you, anyways, it is my first task to recruit more members. But what are the benefits of joining us you might ask? Why if you like fame, fortune, respect, **power** beyond your wildest dreams, anything you could ever wish for, the Dark Lord will grant it, all he asks in return is for you to serve him loyally." He paused and looked around the room. "The Dark Lord only recruits the best, the cream of the crop, the most talented witches and wizards the world has ever seen." He looked around "Ignatius! What do you wish to do after you graduate?" he addressed a bulky seventh year.

"I want to be a healer, but I haven't got the grades to—

"The Dark Lord will make sure you become one should you serve him!"

"Finch! What do you want?"

"I want to be head of the department of the Magical Creatures Bureau"

"And you will be! If you serve my master loyally," he grinned madly "He will grant you all of your wildest desires if you choose to join our side."

Several students cheered and clapped. Severus went downstairs again to his dorm; his head buzzing with what he'd just heard_ 'All my wildest dreams…'_

Severus went to bed with this thought in mind.

-O-

The morning after, Severus sat quietly eating breakfast while some of his housemates crowded around _The Daily _Prophet a couple of them sniggering. He looked over curiously.

"Hey Benson!"

A tall boy with sandy blond hair looked up, he was holding a copy of _The Daily Prophet._

"Can I borrow that when you're done?" he motioned at the newspaper.

"Yeah, here take it" he handed him the paper and continued to eat.

'**_Prewetts Murdered in Edinburgh'_ **read the headline.

'_In what investigators think was a job by Voldemort, the Prewett family was found dead last night in their home in Edinburgh. The Investigators of the scene are still not sure why exactly a pureblood family was murdered but they believe it had to do with their association with muggleborns such as the Johnson family which was murdered three days ago…'_

Severus stopped reading and looked over at his classmates, still sniggering over the headline. He felt sick.

-O-

Severus walked down the hallway with his hands shoved in his pockets. _'I've got to apologise to her, she doesn't deserve this'_ he sighed. His steps echoed throughout the empty corridors. It was beginning to get dark, he should be returning to his dorm in a few hours. _'I still can't believe I was so stupid… I even managed to blow up our potion…OUR POTION!'_ he stopped dead in his tracks and did an about face, racing across the hall to reach the dungeons _'I've got to remake that test with Lily!'_ he thought desperately _'Oh I hope I'm not late! She'll kill me! That's ANOTHER thing I'll have to apologize for! ARGH I'M SUCH AN IDIOT!'_ he raced down the stairs. He wanted to kick himself; he was on the fifth floor on the opposite side of the castle. "Damn! Why couldn't I take a walk on the ground floor!" he panted, racing through another corridor. He ran down another set of stairs. "Lily's going to murder me!" he muttered, running even faster. _'First, I try to **kiss** her! Then I **avoid** her like the plague! After that I **blow up** our potion and make her **cry**! It doesn't end! I'm a right foul git!'_ he raced down another flight of steps, and across a deserted corridor. He lost his footing on the wet floor, presumably Peeve's doing, and fell at the head of the staircase. Severus grunted; as he was getting up, he heard voices.

"Evans, you're such a filthy mudblood. You don't deserve to be in this school," a cold voice drawled cruelly. Severus saw a flash of red light and heard Lily's scream. Severus staggered to his feet and looked over the veranda. Lily's body was crashing down a flight of stairs.

"**LILY!**"

_To be Continued…_

A/N- Hmmm… I believe this is my our first cliff-hanger… Hehe, I'll leave you with that, next chapter will be up next weekend! Review please! Enjoy the rest of your weekend!


	14. Chapter 14

**"The Tale of a Broken Man"**

**_By: PsychoHaired _**

_Disclaimer: _Everything is mine… and also, I just saw a pig fly out of my window.

A/N- Hey you guys! I'm back with the latest chapter! I was really surprised at how many people reviewed this last chapter! And I'm sorry for being evil and leaving it in a cliffhanger, but it HAD to be done. You'll see why once you've finished reading it. I also apologize for not having this update earlier today (kind of makes me even more evil doesn't it?), but I went out on a date today and just got back a few hours ago. I had such a wonderful time… anyways, here it is! Enjoy!

_**Chapter 14:**_

"STETI TEMPORIS!" Severus aimed at Lily's falling body and froze halfway down the staircase. Severus ran to her suspended form and muttered the counter spell, returning her space-time to normality and allowing her to fall into his arms.

"Lily are you alright!" he hugged her close "Lily?" he shook her gently "Lily!" her head lolled onto his shoulder. She was bleeding from her forehead, but she was still breathing.

-o-

"Madam Promfey!" Severus knocked on her office door frantically, "Madam Promfey!"

"I'm coming!" the door opened and the nurse stepped out. She gave him a look, "You again?"

"Yes! I mean, no! I mean—Look!" he pointed at Lily whom he had placed on a nearby bed.

"Dear heavens! What happened to her boy?"

"IdontknowmeanshewasattackedandIdontknowwhodiditshefelldownthestairsandIfrozeherspacetimeandcaughtherandshewasorisstillunconsciousandthenIcarriedhereanddroppedheronthebed!" he yelled frantically, waving his arms.

"I can't understand a word you're saying!"

"She was attacked!" he panted.

"Calm down Severus!"

Severus threw himself on a nearby chair, his head in his hands. He kept blaming himself for what had happened. If he hadn't blown up that potion they wouldn't have had to retake that test and Lily would've been safe and sound. Severus looked up at Madam Promfey whom was waving a small phial of pungent salt under Lily's nose. She coughed and stirred.

"What happened to you dear?" Madame Promfey asked as she started mending her bruises. Lily stared woozily around and fainted.

"Lily!" He rushed to the edge of her bed. "What's wrong with her? Is she going to be ok?"

"What did you see when she was attacked Snape?"

"I didn't see anything… I tripped when I was on my way to the… THE DUNGEONS! I have to talk to Professor Slughorn! We were supposed to retake a test!"

"Never mind that now! Did you hear an incantation? Any distinguishable colours?"

"There was a red flash right before she fell…"

"I see…" she looked grim. She summoned a house-elf. "Bailey, please fetch Professors Slughorn, McGonagall and Headmaster Dumbledore"

Bailey nodded and vanished with a resounding 'crack!'

Severus started at Lily for a moment; Madam Promfey was bandaging her forehead carefully. He felt a pang of guilt, shoved his head in his hands once more and sat down.

Bailey apparated once more and informed that they were on their way and disappeared again. Severus looked at Lily with worry '_This is all my fault_' he thought despondently.

The door to the infirmary burst open and Dumbledore entered, followed by McGonagall and Slughorn.

"Poppy, what happened?" the headmaster asked calmly.

"One of the students has been attacked"

Dumbledore glanced at Lily and frowned. He then glanced at Severus.

"Albus," the nurse began "I think she was hit by a draining curse"

"Ahhh…" Dumbledore sighed gravely "there is no potion for it, nor counter curse I'm afraid"

Severus felt another, more powerful surge of guilt.

"That's what I thought" Madame Promfey looked at him with tired eyes.

"I'm afraid it has begun…" the headmaster said silently.

"Albus," McGonagall spoke. "Is she going to be alright?"

"Yes, the effects should wear off soon I expect. However," he paused "the curse depletes one's energy until complete exhaustion. She will be in bed for quite a while, sleeping, as in most cases." Dumbledore turned to Professor Slughorn " Horace, I believe miss Evans and Mr. Snape had an exam to re-do?"

"Quite right" he stated "However, do to the circumstances" he looked at Lily with worry " I think it'd be best to just eliminate this grade?"

The Headmaster nodded in agreement.

"Minerva, please see to it that Miss Evans be excused from her lessons"

She nodded and followed Professor Slughorn and Dumbledore out of the door.

"Oh! One more thing" Dumbledore turned around "Please allow Mr. Snape to accompany his friend as long as he wishes."

Severus glanced at Dumbledore and had the vague impression the headmaster had just blinked at him. He shook his head briefly, passing it off as overactive imagination and pulled up a chair next to Lily's bed. He crossed his arms and rested his head on the edge of her mattress, watching her sleep, guilt gnawing at his conscience.

-o-

Severus awoke groggily, still sitting on the chair next to Lily's bed. He straightened himself and found that a clean set of robes and his toothbrush had been laid out next to him.

He stood up slowly and was greeted by Madam Promfey.

"Good Morning" she hailed, busily rearranging bedpans. "There's a bathroom to your right" she said, bending over to pick up some tissue paper.

"Thanks" he mumbled and trudged off to brush his teeth and take a quick shower before going up to breakfast.

-o-

Gossip spread like wildfire in Hogwarts, so by that afternoon, the halls were buzzing about Lily's attack. Everywhere Severus went, he heard a different version, each more extraordinarily out of proportion than the last.

"…So then, the mysterious attacker launched her flaming body upwards and vanished in a wisp of smoke. Luckily though, that shady friend of hers rode in at that moment on a stolen Hippogriff and caught her in mid air! Then he…"

Severus rolled his eyes and this latest version and strolled outside into the courtyard.

"Hey Snivellus!" Potter called him

"What do you want Potter?" he said irritably.

"Look… I heard what you did for Evans, and I hate to admit it… but it was pretty decent of you" he said this fast and crossed his arms "Mind you, I still don't like, nor trust you… I'm keeping an eye on you Snape" he turned around and joined his group of friends, leaving Severus slightly annoyed and highly confused.

'_What the hell was THAT all about?'_ he thought.

-o-

Severus returned to the Hospital Wing on breaks and sat next to her while she slept. Quite often he'd catch her muttering in his sleep and once in a while, Severus wondered if she was dreaming of him, and every time he hid, he would think how stupid he was being; they were just friends…if he was lucky, and once this thought surfaced, he'd feel ashamed of his numerous sleepless nights, thinking of her and her sparkling green eyes.

It was on an occasion such as this, that Lily began to mutter in her sleep again and Severus was shaken out of his reverie. He sighed and got up as the evening bell tolled, signalling the beginning of afternoon lessons. He picked up his school bag, slung it over his shoulder and watched her muttering again. He smiled slightly, it was a sign that she was recovering well, and soon she'd bee awake and full of energy just like she had been a couple of weeks earlier. But for now, she'd be laying there for hours on end, recuperating her strength. He turned around and left towards his next lesson.

A week later, most students had forgotten about the incident, but blood bigotry had been scaling ever since. It was commonplace now to see discrimination against muggleborns and half-bloods. It made Severus sick, especially since he put up the façade of being pureblooded himself. But he wasn't stupid, if his roommates ever found out about his true heritage he'd be treated just like the others, being humiliated and jeered at on a daily basis without reason. Severus sighed sadly at this thought, as if his life wasn't already like that; he scowled.

He walked out of the Potions Dungeons after the final bell rang, heading towards the great Hall; on his way ignoring a few of his housemates harassing a Hufflepuff muggleborn.

He sat down at the Slytherin table and loaded his plate with mashed potatoes and butter, eating slowly and listening with detachment at a gang of Slytherins telling jokes.

"Oh! I've got one!" Regulus piped up. He was becoming quite popular, much like his older brother was. "What do you call a mud-blood with half a brain?"

"I don't know…" a blue-eyed boy looked at him.

"What?" DuBois asked eagerly.

"_Gifted_!" Regulus smirked as the boys laughed with mirth.

Severus rolled his eyes and gave a fake chuckle. He ate the rest of his mashed potatoes and rapidly headed towards the Hospital Wing again.

-o-

Severus pushed the door open and sat down next to Lily. He took out his books and began writing an essay that had been assigned earlier that day. After a while he stood up and went to the bathroom to wash out the ink from his hands. After drying them off he entered the room to find Madam Promfey fussing over Lily, whom had just awoken and was blinking around, looking disoriented.

"Where am I?" she asked groggily.

"In the infirmary" Madam Promfey stood next to her "What happened? Do you remember?"

Lily concentrated for a second and said slowly "…I was going to retake a test…and I was attacked" she paused and her lip quivered.

"Because you were a muggleborn?" the nurse asked calmly.

Lily nodded slowly, wiping her eyes. She tried to sit up and winced in pain. "Ow!"

"Oh dear… fractured ribs. I can't heal broken bones unless the patient is conscious," she explained. "The spell doesn't work otherwise. Now, I need you to lift up your shirt…"

Severus choked a bit and turned around, apparently Madam Promfey had forgotten he was currently in the room.

"Er… are you done with the shirt thing?" he asked, his voice an octave higher than usual and a furious blush rising up his cheeks.

The nurse turned around in surprise, Lily looked at his direction for the first time and blushed a brilliant shade of crimson.

"I looked away! I'm not some kind of lecherous pervert!" he said defensively, his voice still higher than usual.

"Oh! Alright then…" Madam Promfey looked abashed. She turned back to Lily and removed her bandages. "I'll be right back with an energy elixir" Madam Promfey walked briskly away to the medicine closet and closed the door.

"Are you okay?" Severus asked shyly.

She nodded.

"Look— they both started.

"You go first" they said together again.

"Go ahead" Lily gave him a small smile.

"Lilly… I, um… I'm sorry for uh… I mean to say is, er…" he shifted from foot to foot and sat next to her. "I shouldn't have… you know and er, I'm sorry for umm" he looked at her and blushed. "I'm sorry… for everything" he blushed again "I was stupid, I—

She shushed him "It's okay Sev… and er, thanks for, you know, rescuing me…" she gave him a quick peck on his cheek.

Severus blushed more furiously still, stammered, and grinned.

"Friends?"

He nodded.

Madam Promfey returned with a bottle of energy elixir.

"Drink Up Evans" she handed her a glass full of bright pink liquid which Lily swallowed in one gulp. She shuddered at the taste.

"Did you recognize who attacked you?" Madam Promfey asked urgently.

She shook her head. "No… it was dark. I couldn't tell who it was" she looked down sadly.

_To Be Continued…_

A/N- Well, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter! I apologize for being evil and making you wait so long with a very, very cruel cliffhanger… Anyways, I hope this made up for my sudden bout of cruelty and I hope you find it in your hearts to forgive me :cough: by reviewing :cough: Next chapter will be up by next weekend hopefully.


	15. Chapter 15

**"The Tale of a Broken Man" **

**_By: PsychoHaired_**

_Disclaimer:_ I own but the twisted ideas in the tangled web of thoughts I call my brain…

A/N- Hey there! Surprise! An early chapter! Our school has a long weekend …not exactly sure why, but thank you whomever died today. Also, this chapter is short…and I mean really short. It's basically a chapter that rounds off the rest of Sev's year. One more thing before I forget, this chapter contains mature undertones, not anything explicit and I point this out because from here on out, we will begin to see Severus maturing and I just want to issue the warning (though I'm quite sure nothing too shocking will happen in a while) to those who might not be expecting it and I wouldn't want to offend anyone… ok, moving on…enjoy!

_**Chapter 15:**_

The rest of winter came and went with a flurry of snowstorms and cold nights. Hogwarts castle had been mostly empty during the Christmas holidays, even Severus had returned to his foster home and spent his holidays with the Morrises. Vacation had been dull; much unlike Christmas at Hogwarts, which is why Severus was glad to be finally back. A few days after returning, he had become thirteen years old. Lily had been the first to congratulate him, followed by a letter from his mum and another from the Morrises. Later that evening his roommates and Regulus had all congratulated him too (although he had a sneaking suspicion Lily had something to do with it). Overall, his birthday had turned out to be a good day.

The day afterwards however, had been quite miserable; thanks to the Marauders whom had taken the liberty of permanently gluing his hands on a desk and thus had to drag it all the way to the Hospital Wing only to have it ripped off and subsequently had to painfully re-grow the skin on the palms of his hands. Severus had retaliated and purposely sprayed them with a powerful fertilizer; causing large oak trees to grow out of their ears, and was now serving detention scrubbing the toilets with Argus Filch. Severus thought this was rather unfair since it was their fault his hands were raw and pink and they hadn't been reprimanded for it. It was also, in his opinion, their fault he was furiously muttering to himself, smelling strongly of muggle detergents and stinging hands.

"Alright lout! Detention's over" Filch barked. "Go on to your dorm and don't let me or Mrs. Norris catch you out of bounds or you'll be scrubbing toilets for a week!" he growled.

Severus dropped the scrubbing brush in relief and walked listlessly back to the dungeons, dragging his feet in exhaustion, head hung low, hair covering his eyes in damp dark curtains, hands shoved in the pockets of his worn robes. The corridors were almost pitch black, he dully thought about using _Lumos_ but was too tired to bother, he knew the way perfectly well; with or without light. He kept on walking silently until he collided hard with something and staggered backwards in surprise.

"Who's there?" he looked around, lighting his wand.

He heard a rustle of robes to his left and turned quickly, directing the beam of light. He thought he saw the sole of a pair of trainers dashing by, but it was gone in the blink of an eye. Severus kept on walking after searching the area for a few minutes, trying to make sense of what had just happened. He knew the marauders had something to do with it, he just knew it, but he was much too tired to think straight at the moment, and hurried to his dorm and fell asleep with troubled dreams.

He woke with a start around four in the morning to a nightmare that involved a snake and a bird's nest on a cold autumn night. Severus fell back to sleep quickly and when he woke up again later that day, he'd forgotten he'd even woken up earlier in the first place.

-O-

As the months went on through the halls of Hogwarts, it was very clear that muggleborns were not welcomed by a great deal of the student body. They had to face prejudice from their peers and even some of the staff. Mudblood-Pureblood relations were looked down upon from both sides. The increasing number of attacks on muggleborns and half blood families didn't help the situation and sometimes went as far as causing hostility towards muggleborn-pureblood relations. Severus and Lily now saw each other less frequently, due to the stares, insults and sometimes even curses that came flying their way. In the last three months of term, Lily had been jinxed and cursed on several occasions. Severus felt horrible for it; he knew that his only choice was to distance himself from Lily to prevent further abuse on her part. The more time they spent together, the more hostile everyone became. It was unjust, most students steered clear from him, no curses were shot at him because everyone thought him a pureblood, the few who knew the truth knew he was infamous for his keen hand for the Dark Arts.

For these past months Severus had been incredibly sulky and withdrawn. He barely spoke now, he hadn't many friends except for Regulus, and the little runt was as big of a bigot as Malfoy was. He also noticed a few changes in himself, his voice often cracked when he spoke, his face began to look shiny and oily, no matter how many times he washed it during the day. His hair also became dull and greasy; it often had an unkempt air about it. This, not surprisingly, made his frustrations worse, specially now that Potter and Black noticed. Now, besides 'Snivellus', 'Greasy, hook-nosed slime ball' was added to the Marauders repertoire of insults. And often he'd angrily think the reason his nose was hooked was because of all the numerous times they'd broken it. A factor that worsened his temper was Lily, not because of her presence, but quite the contrary. He would often dream things about her that would make a grown man blush. In a nutshell… puberty had struck Severus Snape… and it had not been kind.

_To Be Continued…_

A/N- See? I told you this was extremely short! Next chapter will be a series of letters sent in the summer holidays. Could be up later this weekend if I feel like it… if not, then next weekend like usual. I hope you enjoyed this brief update!


	16. Chapter 16

**"The Tale of a Broken Man" **

**_By: PsychoHaired_**

_Disclaimer: _All recognizable characters and places belong to the richest woman in Britain, everything else belongs to the young woman whom has never been there…

A/N- Sorry I didn't have this chapter up yesterday, but I was staying at my grandmother's house while my dad is away on a business trip. Right now I'm at home and I finally have time to type this out! I'll be heading towards my grandma's in a couple of hours though so I hope I have plenty of reviews and hits by Sunday! This will be another letter chapter, very much like Chapter 8; I hope you enjoy!

_**Chapter 16:**_

_Dear Lily,_

_How have you been? I tried to find you on the train station to wish you a good summer, but I couldn't find you. You're not still mad at me are you? I know I've been distant recently, but it's for your own good. This whole Voldemort business has gotten way out of hand. I'm worried for you, be careful._

_Severus_

_-o-_

_Hello Severus,_

_Yes, I am still mad at you and don't give me that whole '**it's for your own good'** line. Friends don't abandon friends out of the blue and let other people humiliate them!_

_Lily_

_-o-_

_Dear Lily,_

_I'm sorry; it IS for your own good. The reason those bungling idiots attacked you in the first place is because you were 'dirtying up' pure blood! Which is completely unfair since I'm not a pureblood. I honestly was only trying to protect you, and I'm really sorry._

_Severus_

_-o-_

_Severus,_

_Well that wouldn't happen if you didn't go strutting about the castle claiming to be a pureblood!_

_Lily_

_-o-_

_Lily,_

_You don't know what living in Slytherin House is like! Half the muggleborn haters are from there! All those people care about is your name, your money, or you social status! Don't you get it? I wouldn't be able to set foot in that place if they found out what I am! And I do not strut! What do you want from me?_

_Severus_

_-o-_

_Severus,_

_All right I'm sorry! But I'm still mad at you! I just wish you'd be yourself all the time!_

_Lily_

_-o-_

**_Mass Muggle Murder in Bristol_**

_**A few hours ago a massacre occurred in Bristol. Seven muggles were found dead, the mark of You-Know-Who's hovering above the scene. The few survivors who witnessed the atrocity had their memories modified to believe it was work of the British Mafia…**_

_-o-_

_Lily,_

_Are you ok? I just read the paper; your city was attacked! Please, are you all right? Answer my owl as soon as you can!_

_Severus_

_-o-_

_Dear Lily,_

_Please answer my owls, please be ok, please tell me that you're all right._

_-o-_

_Oh Sev! This is horrible! I've just found out! My city was attacked! One of my muggle friends and her family was murdered! My family and me were out of town that day. I can't believe Olivia is dead! I was just talking to her the other day, her mum was always so nice to me and now they're all…gone. _

_-o-_

_Thank Merlin you and your family are all ok! I'm so sorry about your friend, my condolences. Lily, please be careful._

_Severus_

_-o-_

_Dear Sev,_

_I'm staying at my friend Cornelia's house for the remainder of the summer with Alice. Cornelia's father works at the ministry so their house is safely guarded. I'll be okay, I went to Olivia's burial yesterday…I still can't believe she's gone forever…_

_-o-_

_Dear Lily,_

_I'm glad to hear you're in a safe place now. I've just found out some great news though, Janice is pregnant. She found out last week and she and Phil were ecstatic. (Janice wasn't able to bear children). All their family has come over to congratulate her. Janice's friends keep coming over; they look like chickens giggling over what clothes the baby will wear and what colour the nursery should be. It's hectic around here and quite frankly… it's driving me mad! I mean, I'm very happy for her… but MUST she ask for pickle anchovy ice cream at six AM in the morning? It's disgusting! Speaking of which, I'm going out with Phil to buy some more, can you believe she goes through three buckets a week? Pregnant women are scary…_

_Severus_

_-o-_

_Hey Sev!_

_I'm so happy for Janice and Phil! I wonder if it'll be a boy or a girl? What names could they pick? If I had a girl I'd name her something like Jessica or Giselle… if it were a boy then I'd have to name it after it's father's grandfather (family tradition). The nursery should be yellow because it's a cheerful; colour and it stimulates a baby's mind… Aww babies are adorable! Send my congratulations to Janice!_

_Lily_

_-o-_

_Dear Lily,_

_For Merlin's sake! You've turned into one of them! Who cares what colour pacifiers the baby will use! It's a bloody pacifier! That's it… I'm staying over at Regulus's house. Pregnant women are insane! Scratch that… all women are. Ok…just brilliant, I'm going to buy another tub of pickle anchovy ice cream… such overwhelming joy._

_Severus_

_-o-_

_Hey Sev!_

_Don't be such a sourpuss! Babies are adorable! And I bet Phil and Janice are so happy too! Anyways, Alice, Cornelia and I are having a great time. Cornelia's parents are really nice and her house is huge! They have a pool, a pool house, a pond, a lake and a Quidditch Pitch…all in their backyard! Cornelia's older brother Frank is teaching us how to play Quidditch. It's really fun once you get used to it. I hope you have fun at Regulus's, tell him I said hi!_

_Lily_

_-o-_

_Dear Lily,_

_Regulus's parents are creepy… they keep asking me if I'm related to the Snapes who own the Ukrainian Quidditch Team. Regulus's mum keeps talking about legalizing muggle hunting with her sister or something… I think I miss anchovy pickle ice cream. Don't get me wrong though, the guys and me are having a great time (some of my roommates are here too) but the house is just…weird. They have house-elf heads mounted on the walls! Well, I've got to go now, Regulus's father wants to teach us a couple of curses and then we're going to duel each other._

_Severus_

_-o-_

_Hey Severus!_

_Those poor House-elves! Why would they behead the poor things? How did the duels go? What kinds of curses did you learn? Well, I'd better get ready; we're going to Diagon Alley. I was going to ask if you wanted to come along, but seeing how Regulus's parents are I thought it'd be best not to risk it. Bye!_

_Lily_

_-o-_

_Dear Lily,_

_It's ok, I understand. I went to Diagon Alley yesterday and got everything I needed. By the way, which elective did you get? I'm taking Ancient Runes and Arithmancy. I'm back at the Morrises again, Janice has gotten BIG and I was only gone for two weeks and a half! You can tell she's pregnant now. Oh no! She ran out of that wretched ice cream again! Bugger…_

_Severus_

_-o-_

_Dear Sev,_

_I bet you're going to hate ice cream for a while. I can't believe summer's almost over. I already did all my work. I'm taking Care of Magical Creatures and Arithmancy also. Mum and Dan are meeting me at King's Cross Station the day after tomorrow. I'll see you there too! Can't wait to see you, I missed you. Well, I've got to go now. Alice, Cornelia and I are shopping for a back-to-school outfit at a muggle store (it was my idea). Can you believe they've never shopped for muggle clothes before?_

_Lily_

_To Be Continued…_

A/N- Okay, done with second year! Next chapter will be the beginning of their third year and will be up by next weekend. I'm still working on it, it's not quite finished yet but hopefully I'll have enough time to finish it before Friday rolls along and I hope I also have time to finish writing chapter 18! My gosh I'm way behind schedule!


	17. Chapter 17

**"The Tale of a Broken Man" **

**_By: PsychoHaired_**

_Disclaimer: _Not mine in the least. Well… the plot… and the computer… and the notebook and the pen too… but everything else is Jo's.

A/N- :Cowers in shame: So sorry for the REALLY late update! School has been torturing me… again, and I'm still way behind schedule, with the result that there probably wont be an update next weekend :hides from angry readers: But before you kill me, I just want to point out that the LEAST I could do was make this a long chapter (which it is) so yeah, you may kill me now :(

_**Chapter 17:**_

Severus looked out the window of the rapidly moving Hogwarts Express and sighed. It was raining hard and he absentmindedly watched as the droplets grouped together and careened down the cold glass window. Raucous laughter erupted; Severus looked at the source of the commotion and noticed someone had just removed their hand in disembodiment poker, a spawn of Severus's boredom during the summer holidays.

" …I see your hand and raise you" Montague magically removed his nose and added it to the pile of random body parts "by bose"

Regulus looked at his hand "I fold" he sighed and pushed his cards to the dealer.

"Same" Wilkes followed.

DuBois placed his nose in the pile along with his hand.

"All right show your cards" Andrew Gip (the dealer) flipped his own cards, revealing a pair of Aces.

"Read 'eb and weep boys" DuBois grinned "Full House"

"Dab!" Montague slapped his own cards down, "I had three of a kibd!"

DuBois reached for the pile of disembodied parts.

"Bot so fast DuBois! I have a Poker, that's higher thab a Full House!"

"Argh! You bastard!"

Severus stood up and reached for the sliding door.

"Oi! Where are you going Severus?" Regulus piped up.

"Getting some sweets from the trolley" he lied.

"Get me some Cockroach Clusters and Iced Mice" he threw him a sack of gold.

"Go get it yourself"

"But I'm in the middle of a game!" he protested, magicking off his left ear.

He rolled his eyes "Fine, I'm keeping your change though" he sneered.

"What? Your puppy has mange? I didn't you had a dog"

Severus rolled his eyes again and headed out the door cursing. He wasn't going to go find the trolley lady; he wanted to find Lily. Severus walked slowly up the corridor, surreptitiously glancing inside the compartments and after a while found himself blocked by the wretched trolley and students noisily buying sweets. Severus sighed and decided to give up, buy the sweets and head back to the compartment with his new friends.

"Hi, can I get some Cockroach Clusters and Iced Mice?" he fumbled inside the back and gave the lady the correct change. He looked up and met a pair of familiar green eyes, she smiled and motioned for him to go inside the compartment next to him. The trolley moved along and he slipped in, a few moments later Lily slipped in as well and closed the door behind her.

"Sev! Hi!" she grinned and hugged him.

Severus received the hug awkwardly, like he always did. "Hi Lily" his voice cracked a bit and he looked down silently cursing.

"How was your summer?" she asked.

"Decent" he shrugged and sat down.

"Hmm" she sat next to him.

He took a good look at her, she was much taller than he remembered, her hair was much longer and her face was beginning to loose it's childish appearance. She noticed him staring, "What? Do I have something on me?"

"No, er… you look different" He mumbled and looked away.

"You too…" she frowned a bit "Did you do something to your hair?"

"Hmm…" she looked at him again.

"What?"

"Nothing" she smiled softly.

The door slid open and Cornelia stepped in.

"Hey Lily, we're going to play that card game you taught us, want to play?" she glanced over at Severus. "Oh! Hello Snape"

Severus nodded at her and stood up. "See you around Evans" Severus looked at her; she frowned a bit. Severus had proposed to call each other by their last names in public, Lily had (begrudgingly so) accepted. This was to make it seem like they weren't on such friendly terms as before.

He went back to his compartment and tossed an armless Regulus his sweets. He sat down on the seat next to the window again and read a book throughout the remainder of the ride to Hogwarts.

-o-

"Welcome class, to another year at Hogwarts" McGonagall greeted them from behind her desk. "This year we will be focusing on switching spells…" McGonagall then proceeded to explain the theory behind switching spells and finished by demonstrating how it was done. "We will start off easy by switching mouse ears to a small rock." She flicked her wand at the supply closet and the materials flew across the room onto the desks. "For Merlin's sake it's not going to kill you Miss Harada!" she paced the room " I want a 60 cm essay for Friday on theory, history and uses of the switching spell." The class groaned.

Severus started working his switching spell on the mouse; he wasn't doing very well, though he did manage to transfer a few hairs onto the rock.

McGonagall was pacing the classroom and stopping beside the desks, helping students.

"Excellent Black, now try switching the tail" she went to another desk. "Keep working on it Miss Harada" she kept pacing the room " Almost there Pettigrew, keep trying" she moved on, "Nicely done Evans" she kept on "Excellent James, switch the tail. By the way I hope you will be trying out for the team this year" she whispered; he nodded. "Hmm, not entirely there. Keep trying Snape"

Severus managed to switch one ear on the rock; he frowned and kept working on it.

"Oh very nice Black! 10 points for Gryffindor"

Severus scowled in his direction, Sirius had switched not only the mouse's ears and tail, but also it's legs, nose and whiskers too.

The bell rang signalling the end of class and Severus stuffed his wand in his pocket muttering bitterly to himself. When he reached the History of Magic classroom he took his usual seat in the back of the room and ignored Professor Binn's lecture on Egyptian Warlords. Instead he doodled absentmindedly on the edge of his parchment for the next hour.

-o-

After a short break he headed towards the Ancient Runes classroom, excited to learn new material.

"Good Morning class, my name is Professor Niwa and I'll be your Ancient Runes teacher" The tall man explained, "Ancient Runes is the language the magical world began with and ancient spells, charms and curses were written like this." Professor Niwa then began to explain basic Rune characters, their meaning, pronunciation and magical properties. Severus was intrigued and paid close attention, making sure to jot down the strange symbols and their meanings.

After Ancient Runes he went to Charms class where Professor Flitwick began explaining colour-changing spells. Severus found himself amused, changing a small wooden box into an ornately tie-dyed coloured box. Professor Flitwick squeaked with delight and awarded him 10 points. Severus then made it red, green, plaid, polka dotted, striped, spotted and translucent. He soon became bored with this and attempted to paint a picture on it, which turned out looking like a pile of mush. The bell rang yet again and he made his way to Herbology, where he got attacked by a Venomous Tentacula.

Severus marched out of Greenhouse number three moodily covered in bite marks and missing a few chunks of hair. After 'scourgify'ing himself he grabbed a sandwich from the Slytherin lunch table and sat down on the tree near the lake to enjoy the mild weather. Lily arrived shortly afterwards and sat next to him, conjuring some bushes around the tree.

"Hello Evans"

"Sev! No one's around!" she scowled.

He looked around at the bushes, "Fine, hi Lily"

"That's better" she grinned "I hate it when you call me 'Evans' you know… sounds unfriendly" she crossed her arms.

"That's the whole point Lily"

"I don't like it"

"And I don't like people jinxing you all the time" he muttered "you could get hurt…"

"Severus I can take care of myself. Honestly, you're as protective as that Potter guy" she shook her head.

He scowled.

"So, how has your day been?"

"Dull" he replied.

"What happened to your face?"

"Herbology…"

Lily laughed "It's always Herbology, thank Merlin you're not in Care of Magical Creatures… Professor Kettleburn lost a finger today with a Pygmy Puff… how he managed to do so is beyond me…"

He smirked.

"You're taking Defence next aren't you?"

"Yeah, we have all of our afternoon classes together"

"Oh right" he smiled.

"Hey I saw that we have our first Hogsmeade trip on Halloween"

"Really?" he looked at her.

"Yeah, should be fun. Potter and Black keep going on about this shop called Zonko's I think"

"It's a joke shop"

"It figures"

"So what about it?" he asked.

"I dunno," she shrugged "sounds interesting" she looked pointedly at him, rolled her eyes and began working on her Charms Homework.

Severus drew his knees up to his chest and stared at Lily working. He noticed how curvy and round her handwriting looked and listened vaguely at the scratching of her quill. She bent over a bit more as she corrected something; a lock of auburn hair fell on her face and she gracefully tucked it behind her ear. Severus's stomach jumped a little. He focused on her ear, it was small and round, and had a few freckles on it; she was wearing small emerald studs that shimmered ever so slightly. She glanced in his direction.

"What?" she quirked an eyebrow.

"Nothing" he looked away and decided to work on a bit of his homework as well but found himself at a loss of concentration. He started sketching out Lily with his quill. He glanced at her quickly; she furrowed her brow in concentration and bit her lower lip. He turned back to his sketch and kept scratching away. Lily looked at him again.

"What are you doing?" she leaned towards him.

Severus jumped slightly and crumpled the paper. "Nothing" he coughed a little "Just scribblings" his voice cracked again.

"Oh… okay" she stood up and gathered her things. "Come on, the bell will ring soon, we have defence now"

Severus stood up too, brushed off some leaves from his robes and stuffed the crumpled sketch in his pocket.

-o-

Their new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Sheffield was a complete nutcase. He was paranoid, shifty-eyed, loud and often forgot what he was speaking of a few seconds before. He confused names, knocked over things and jumped about two metres in the air when a magical creature was mentioned. It was quite funny watching him try to give class. Severus found his new teacher frustrating and spent the rest of the class doing his Transfiguration essay. Once the bell rang (Professor Sheffield jumping in surprise), Severus hurried off to Arithmancy, wondering if he was going to like it or not. Soon Lily caught up with him and commented on how hysterical their new professor was.

-o-

"Arithmancy is basically muggle arithmetic, with the exception that the numbers and variables represent magical quantums. A magical quantum is the unit of measure in spell work. For example, the Lumos spell requires twenty-five magical quantums to work properly, if you want to create a new spell that somehow incorporates the Lumos spell you must write an equation with one of the charts you will be learning and then balancing it out. You must then convert the result to an incantation, utilizing complicated specialized charts, which you will also have to learn. You will become skilled at this in the future, for now, we shall stick with the basics of the Magical Quantum Theory." Professor Vector kept rambling on about what the magical quantum theory was. The class just stared in confusion. Severus felt his IQ dropping by the minute… this wasn't going to be an easy class.

-o-

"Merlin did you understand anything Professor Vector explained?" Lily asked, clutching her books.

"Not at first, but I think I got the gist of it" he shrugged.

"Se-Snape, you're too smart for your own good" Lily laughed and joined her friends. "See you later"

Severus sighed as he watched her go "Just one more class… Merlin! This day's been endless!" he shook his head and kept walking towards the dungeons.

-o-

"Good afternoon third-years!" Professor Slughorn greeted cheerily. "Everybody take out your basic kit! We're competing for a prize today." He took out a large sack of Honeyduke's sweets. "First to brew a successful bruise-healing draught will win." He slapped the sack on the table" You may begin now"

Severus smiled beside himself; he could brew that potion in his sleep! He sorted out his ingredients and working tools and began. Severus worked quickly and efficiently, knowing the instructions by heart, those sweets were in the bag. He was in the final stages of brewing in just under twenty minutes when…

"Done already?" Professor Slughorn examined the potion carefully, stirred it to check its consistency and broke into a grin. "We have a winner! Congratulations Miss Evans, your potion is flawless!" Lily grinned as Professor Slughorn handed her the huge sack. Severus stood agape; Lily won? But he knew the potion by heart, he could brew it in his sleep, he had better marks than her! He scowled as he finished his potion with second place.

_To Be Continued…_

A/N- That's it for this chapter, told you it was long! I haven't written/planned out chapter 18 yet and I'm falling behind on schoolwork, which is why I'm forced to skip next weekend's update. I apologize for this inconvenience I know you are all used to weekly updates but I'm terribly, TERRIBLY behind on my work and I need to catch up so this story is on a weeklong hiatus for now. Don't worry; I will not abandon this fic! Meanwhile, I'd like to thank all of you who've reviewed and I hope you will all bear with me for pausing this fic, you have no idea how sorry I am :( Anyways, I hoped you guys enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you all on March 3rd (Friday) with a new chapter ok?


	18. Chapter 18

**"The Tale of a Broken Man" **

**_By: PsychoHaired _**

_Disclaimer:_ All of this belongs to the wonderful Mrs. Jo Rowling… except some of the plot.

**NOTE: **Contains some course language (just one word but still...)

A/N- Well, I'm back and finally back on schedule! I just finished a gruelling two weeks at school, handing in projects and research papers, looking up information and today we just successfully completed a choreographed dance in front of the entire student body (which of course meant a LOT of practice time and painful muscle aches). All that is behind me, now we're going to start practising for the Talent Show at the end of this month! I swear I think I'm a bloody masochist or something... Anyways, here's the much-awaited (so sorry!) eighteenth chapter. Enjoy!

**NOTE: **This chapter contains some course langue.

_**Chapter 18:**_

"Hey nice one Evans!" Sirius Black patted her on the back while exiting the classroom. He walked ahead to join up with Potter and his gang, "Did you see the look on that git's face? It was priceless!" Black barked out a laugh along with the others.

Severus was brooding. How did she win? How did HE lose? It was illogical, preposterous, outlandish, laughable, insane! Severus zipped his bag shut and stomped out of the dungeon. '_It's not like I wanted the bloody candy' _he scoffed.

"Oh! Hey Sev! Want some Chocolate Frogs?" Lily grinned, offering some from the bag.

"How'd you do it?" he snapped.

"Do what?" she stopped walking.

"You know what I mean" he crossed his arms and turned towards her. "How'd you win?"

"Are you jealous?" she retorted in disbelief.

"No way! Jealous of _you_?"

"What's _that_ supposed to mean? Is it because I'm a girl? Because I'm a muggle-born? Is that it?"

Severus stuck out his tongue.

"Oh very mature Severus" she said acidly.

"How could you have won?" he narrowed his eyes, "You cheated didn't you?"

Lily's green eyes flashed dangerously and she slapped him. "How dare you accuse me of such a thing? I would never stoop so low! Goodbye _Snape!_" She turned around with a harrumph and walked briskly away.

Severus's cheek stung, he stood rooted to the spot staring fixedly as she left. Some students were walking by, murmuring and giving him dirty looks.

"Lily wait!" he called out, but he was too late…

-o-

Severus threw himself on the bed face first.

"What the hell did I just do?" he said out loud, voice muffled by his mattress. '_Why the hell did I say it? She's a right bloody intelligent girl! Brilliant at Potions, of course she was capable of out brewing me! And I've just accused her of cheating'; _he desperately thought. "Why am I such a blithering arse!" he yelled into his mattress, fists shaking in rage. He felt a strong urge to strangle something, anything. He stood up and punched the wall, his knuckles cracked painfully; he punched it again and again until he began to bleed. Severus slumped down on the floor, gripping the carpet, shaking uncontrollably "…I'm sorry" he whispered.

-o-

The next morning Severus awoke with a terrible headache, he felt horribly wrong. The events of the previous afternoon rushed in, he stared at his bruised and swollen knuckles. "Lily…" he mumbled. Severus went down for breakfast; he sat alone at the Slytherin table, absentmindedly stirring his cold porridge. He glanced at the Gryffindor table towards Lily; she looked a bit upset and Severus felt a pang of guilt. She glanced up and their eyes met; Lily shot him an icy glare and looked away. Severus pushed his plate away, '_What a cruddy year this is turning out to be… not even a fucking week has gone by…' _he thought miserably.

He walked alone towards Transfiguration, occasionally glancing at her. Severus shoved his hands into his pockets and looked down at his feet, letting his hair cover most of his face. Soon McGonagall arrived and class began. He felt so lousy he couldn't manage to switch even one of the mouse ears onto the rock and had been given extra homework. In History of Magic Severus kept his head down throughout the entire class, his mood was so sullen that even Professor Binns noticed, asking him if he was all right at the end of class. He had responded with a sigh and kept on walking. By the time he was at Charms Class he could only manage to turn his white pillow a murky grey, causing Professor Flitwick to quirk his eyebrows in confusion. When it was lunchtime, Severus headed straight towards the tree near the lake and climbed to its uppermost branches, staring at the scenery with disdain.

Soon afterwards Lily came by and sat at the base of the tree and did the same thing; his heart raced furiously, colour rising to his cheeks. She didn't stay long however and promptly stood up, smoothed out her robes ran up to one of her friends.

-o-

A few weeks had passed and Lily was still furious with him. Every time their eyes met she would give him an icy glare and he'd feel another pang of regret. Each time one of the marauders taunted him, he'd ignore them, so much so that they soon grew bored with him and tormented little first years instead. It wasn't as if he hadn't tried to apologise, she just wouldn't give him a chance. If she'd only give him just one minute… but her resentment seemed to make that impossible.

By the end of the day Severus was determined to give her a proper apology. Severus waited outside all her classes and tried to pull her aside, waited for her to finish lunch, he even waited outside the girl's lavatory once; none of it mattered, every time she spotted him she'd just turn around and leave before he could mutter a single word. He wasn't about to give up however, so the next afternoon he climbed to the owlery with a full sack of gold. He was going to need some tools of persuasion.

-o-

His parcel arrived by the first Saturday of October, a huge box he quickly shrunk and stuffed in his bag. After he finished his meal, Severus headed towards the Library into a secluded niche hardly anyone ever used. It was at the back and well hidden behind a History of Old Magic bookshelf. When he made sure no one was around, Severus took out the shrunken parcel and returned it to its original size. He opened it carefully, inside were dozens of different kinds of lilies he had ordered from Primrose Shoppe.

-o-

The next morning Severus awoke early and headed up to the owlery, lily in hand. He addressed it on a small card, which read (in charmed penmanship so as not to be recognised) '_A lily for Lily' _and ordered the delivery owl to wait for the morning post. He headed downstairs to eat breakfast with a cheery disposition, a small smile on his face and a spring in his step. He even found himself humming a bit, causing many odd looks to come his way.

"Morning Snivelly" Potter and Black jeered.

"Good Morning Potty" he replied cheerily and kept on walking, leaving James too befuddled to react.

Severus reached the Great Hall and took his usual seat at the Slytherin table, making sure to have a clear view of Lily when the post arrived. He began to eat his breakfast as slowly as he could and finally spotted her making her way to the Gryffindor table. Shortly after, the mail arrived and Severus instantly looked up. He spotted the barn owl he'd used fluttering down in front of Lily with a bright water lily in its beak. She looked around in confusion and finally accepted the flower. Severus watched with eagerness as she read the small note, smiling and looking around for its author. He hadn't signed the card, that wasn't part of his plan so he looked away before she caught him staring. He let his hair fall on his face, hiding a grin that had formed on his face, ecstatic to have made her smile. Severus finished eating the rest of his breakfast and hurried up to the Library to finish the rest of his homework.

-o-

Lily received a different lily everyday, each with a different message, every time she would welcome the flower with a shy smile on her lips. Her friends went crazy each time she received one, wondering whom the mystery guy was.

The next Sunday, exactly a week after she had received her first lily, the post arrived. The post arrived and Severus watched closely as Lily scanned the owls with anticipation. None came flying her way and after scanning the table as if to see if someone else had gotten her flower by mistake, she disappointedly finished her meal and exited the Great Hall.

Severus stood up nervously and headed outside towards the tree by the lake. Phase one of his plan had been carried out. Now it was up to Lily to complete phase two. The rest of the twelve dozen different lilies he had ordered were delivered to her dorm with an unsigned card asking her to meet him at the tree near the lake. Severus didn't know how long it would take for her to find the lilies, but he was willing to wait until dark if he had to. Half an hour passed until he spotted Lily heading out of the castle. Severus's stomach leaped nervously and he hid from her view. Lily approached the tree and spotted him; she angrily began to say something but got cut off.

"Lily, I'm really, really sorry for what I said" he stammered, "Please, forgive me?" he shifted from foot to foot.

She rolled her eyes and thought for a bit; "I suppose I can't be mad at you forever" she crossed her arms. "Have you seen anyone around?" she asked craning her neck.

He shook his head nervously and produced the last lily from behind his back, a white Calla Lily. "Would you go to Hogsmeade with me?" he blurted out.

Lily stared at the flower he was holding anxiously in his hand in surprise.

"Was it…"

He nodded.

Lily broke into a grin and hugged him. "All right, I'll go with you"

Severus broke into a grin and blushed.

_To be Continued…_

A/N- Ok done! I know this one's a wee bit short, only about four pages long. But this is how I wanted to make this chapter; I hope you liked it :) Reviews please!


	19. Chapter 19

**"The Tale of a Broken Man" **

**_By: PsychoHaired_**

_Disclaimer-_ I do not own any f the characters or settings.

A/N- I'm SO sorry for the late update! My weekend was so full! I went to a school basketball game (we won) and then to a school dance (it was awesome) and then I had to get up early to go to the intellectual competitions of the National Honour Society (got 7th place out of 63 chapters in English category and 4th place global) and then today was my best friend's 18th birthday and I just got back at 9:15 EST so yeah… Anyways, **_I DID get the chance to draw and paint a scene from this chapter_**, which you can view on my author page, Anyways, I hope you enjoy this LONG chapter, I know I enjoyed writing it :)

_**Chapter 19:**_

Severus hadn't the slightest idea how or why he'd asked Lily Evans out on a date and he also had no clue as to why she had accepted. Nevertheless, Severus felt as if in a dream. He had Lily's forgiveness and they were going out on a date; life couldn't possibly get any better.

Severus walked cheerfully out of Herbology practically unscathed, heading towards the castle to eat some lunch. On his way, he found the hallway blocked off however, so he stopped to see what all the fuss was about.

"Oh will you stop making a scene? I refuse to go out with you Potter!"

Severus craned his neck to get a better look at what was going on. To his surprise, he spotted none other than Lily and James bickering in the middle of the amused crowd.

"Come on Evans! Any girl would die to be in your shoes right now!" Potter ruffled his hair. "Go with me to Hogsmeade"

"Forget it, ask someone else"

"Evans wait!"

"_Goodbye_ Potter" She stuck her nose in the air and walked briskly away.

The crowd began to dissipate, talking amongst themselves. Severus walked along with a huge grin plastered all over his face.

"What are _you_ smiling about you greasy git?" Potter snarled at him.

"Oh, just admiring Evans's good taste" he smirked and went inside the Great Hal

-o-

"Argh! That Potter is driving me mad!" Lily groaned as Severus listened with amusement. "I mean, can you believe he had the nerve to chase me up the girl's staircase? He slid right back down, bugger deserved it" she scowled. "And then he waited for me all day until I came down with a bouquet of red roses demanding that I meet him outside of Zonko's! Honestly! I don't even like red roses!" she groaned again. "Why me?"

"I'm sure you must be scarred for life" he smirked "but do try to focus on our potion…"

"Sorry" Lily, grabbed a bowl of chopped toad liver.

"Wait" Severus stopped her and tipped some armadillo bile in.

"Sev! You were supposed to add that three steps from now!"

"It'll go faster this way" he stirred the potion "tip it in now" the potion soon turned a bright shade of orange.

"Wow! How'd you know?"

"Not sure… had a feeling it would speed it up"

"Okay…"

-o-

There were deafening sounds of excitement all around. The weather was overcast, perfect for the first Quidditch match of the season. The pitch was flooded in a sea of Green and Scarlet, all cheering on their respective teams. It was an odd sight to behold, Severus Snape amongst his fellow Slytherin brethren, cheering on his house team. No one had ever seen him attend a match, nevertheless, there he was, sporting a green Slytherin Scarf and holding up a sign with large green letters that read: _"DIE POTTER"_. This was James Potter's first Quidditch match as Chaser for the Gryffindor Team, and Severus, more than anything else, came to see him get mauled by bludgers.

There was a deafening roar from the scarlet end of the pitch; one of the chasers had just scored. "…And the score is tied at 110-110!" the announcer's voice boomed. "Slytherin takes possession of the Quaffle, passes to Nulty, passes to Dent…intercepted by Potter! He's moving fast! Potter passes to Kensington, back to Potter! Oh! And he is hit hard by the new Slytherin beater, Regulus Black! Ladies and gentlemen, that looked painful! …" The Slytherin side of the roared with laughter. "And Nulty's headed for the goalpost…he shoots… he scores! Slytherin 120, Gryffindor 110!" The Slytherins cheered loudly. "Potter's got the Quaffle! Passes to Longbottom, back to Kensington, oh! Nearly gets hit by a bludgers but looses it! Slytherin's got possession of the ball, and headed for the goal… Potter intercepts Dent again! He passes to Longbottom! Back to Potter! He shoots… Potter scores!" The Gryffindor stands erupted in cheers. "It's tied once more at 120-120! Nulty has the ball, passes to Dent, passes to Webster, back to Dent and he's intercepted by Kensington! He passes it to Longbottom. Oh! Hit by another bludger! Webster takes the Quaffle, passes it to Nulty, back to Webster… he shoots! Great save by Harris!" The Slytherins groaned. "Kensington's got the Quaffle! Passes to Longbottom, throws it to Potter, back to Longbottom, passes to Kensington, passes to Potter… MERLIN! He just batted the Quaffle in with his own broomstick! Gryffindor takes the lead, 130-120! Nulty's got the Quaffle again… wait! The seekers are going at it! They've seen the snitch! Malfoy and McDowd are neck a neck…. McDowd is closing in… he's got it! McDowd's got the snitch! Gryffindor wins its first match of the season 280-120!" The Gryffindor stands roared with delight celebrating their victory while the Slytherins groaned to their defeat and started vacating the stands. Severus watched in disappointment as the Gryffindors circled the pitch in a victory lap, and idly watched as James Potter stopped in front of a young red headed girl, only to be pelted by her shoe a few seconds later. Severus smirked "Can't win everything Potter"

-o-

A few hours after the game Severus decided to go for a stroll around the lake, he was still in a good mood and laughed a little at the memory of that arrogant arse's face when Lily's shoe came flying at him. He decided to sit underneath the shade of the tree near the lake and continued to read his book on 17th century curses. To his surprise, he found Lily reading there too, she hadn't noticed him. Severus tapped her shoulder and Lily jumped.

"Potter I swear if you don't leave me al-oh! Severus!" she stopped and lowered her wand. "I'm sorry, thought you were…"

Severus quirked his eyebrow in amusement, "I think Potter stole your sanity along with your shoe…" he smirked.

Lily laughed. "Yeah, he's driving me off the walls." She exclaimed. "Anyways, why are you here?"

He shrugged. "Fancied some fresh air" Severus sat next to her and opened his book.

"Hmm…" she smiled, "What are you reading"

"17th Century Curses"

"How cheerful of you"

Severus tilted his head "I get this from a girl who's reading Edgar Allan Poe?"

"It's a poetry book!"

"Still, the guy's pretty depressing" he smirked.

"I guess…but I still love his poetry" she smiled fondly at her book.

They kept on reading for a few minutes in silence.

"Which one are you reading?"

"Annabelle Lee"

"He wrote that for his cousin" he stated, turning a page from his book.

"Oh?"

"Yes, they got married, but she got sick and then she died when she was thirteen"

"That's so sad"

"I guess…" Severus stood up, "You hungry? I'm going to eat dinner"

"Okay" She stood up and walked beside him.

-o-

"Oi Severus!"

"Hello Regulus"

"Can you help me with something?"

"I knew you wanted something…"

"I just need an explanation"

Severus raised his eyebrows.

"It's for a potions essay"

"Merlin's beard! I think it's a sign of the Apocalypse!" Severus threw himself on the couch theatrically.

"Sod it! I need to bring my potion's grade up or Slughorn will kick me off the team"

"Pity… you won't get to maul Potter"

"You've been acting strange lately… " Regulus raised his eyebrows. "…smiling, humming songs, cool, calm and collected, tongue in cheek…" he smirked, "Can this possibly mean that Prince of Darkness is pleased about something?"

"_That_ isn't any of your business dear little Reg."

"Are you going to help me or not?"

"Depends…"

"On what?" Regulus narrowed his eyes.

"If you knock Potter off his broomstick on the next match"

Regulus laughed.

"All right so what is it that you don't understand?"

"Bezoars", Regulus stated in frustration. 'I can't understand why is it that they can act like an antidote to most poisons…"

"That's easy. You see…" Severus explained the properties and components of a goat's kidney stone and what made it a good antidote.

"So the Alcantor is what makes it work?"

"Most of the times, yes"

"So that's why most antidotes also have that ingredient?"

"Yes"

"It finally makes sense…" Regulus jotted down some things "You should teach"

"Please…I'd rather have my lower lip stretched back to the nape of my neck"

"…Ouch"

-o-

Severus woke up early on Friday morning. He took a quick shower, dressed, grabbed his notes and reviewed the facts and spells he was going to be tested on for the day. He walked carelessly around, reading his scratchy, angular handwriting and headed upstairs for breakfast. "…were discovered in 1492 by Dederik Liechstein…" he muttered, dodging a few students he spotted with his corner vision. "…commonly used for cooking but found a more purposeful…" he sat down on his table and grabbed a green apple. "…they later were modified by…" he muttered during bites. "Switching spells are also known as…"

More and more people arrived for breakfast, welcoming with awe and wonder the splendid Halloween decorations. Severus finished reading his notes for the umpteenth time and got out his wand. He pointed at a large grapefruit and an apple, muttering the incantation. He grabbed the apple and took a bite, noticing the grapefruit's pulp inside the waxy green peel. Once Severus was satisfied that he'd studied enough, he took a good view at his surroundings. The Great Hall was decked out with floating pumpkins, candles and live bats. The tables were loaded with different assortment of sweets, ranging from candy corn to dancing marshmallow skeletons. Severus was itching to finish his lessons today because it was the third year's first trip to Hogsmeade and he had plans for that afternoon.

-o-

"Settle down class, put your notes, books and everything else away…" McGonagall paced the room with a stack of parchment in her arms. "Your quills have been bewitched with anti-cheating spells" she started handing out the tests. "There are five sets of different exams each with different answers… just in case anyone is tempted to look at someone's test" he looked sternly at Black. "You may begin"

The silent room grew with the scratching of quills and ruffling of paper. Severus read the first few questions and bent low over his exam, scribbling away furiously in his tight, slanted handwriting. The test was arduous, horribly long and complicated with many trick questions. On occasion, Severus had to scribble something out and write something else besides it. A few questions were left for the last because he forgot a few details. Fifty minutes into the test he was finished with ten minutes to spare. Severus sat upright and re-read his answers, double-checking to see if he had any mistakes. He crossed out a few things, re-worded others explained something with more details here and there…

"Five minutes left" the Professor stated, a few groans were heard and more furious scratching followed. Severus gave his test another once-over before he finished. The bell rang and Professor McGonagall summoned the test papers onto her desk. Severus grabbed his bag, slung it over his shoulder and exited the classroom amongst relieved chatter.

"Hey!"

Severus turned around.

"Morning Evans"

"How'd it go Snape?"

"Er… not so bad, you?"

"Pretty good… although I think I have the fourth question wrong…"

"See you later?"

"You bet" she beamed and caught up with her friends.

Severus walked into History of Magic with a grin on his face, '_I love Halloween_' he thought pleasantly and ignored Professor Binn's lecture as usual. Instead, he reviewed his Ancient Runes symbols for a quiz he'd be taking next period. After History of Magic, Severus took his Ancient Runes quiz, stuffed everything in his bag and went to his Common Room. Due to their Hogsmeade trip, they only had half a day of lessons. After freshening up a bit, Severus headed upstairs and towards the Great Hall where the third years would meet to get the rules about visiting Hogsmeade. After explaining that students weren't allowed to drink alcohol, even if they were of age, that they were to stay away from the shrieking shack, behave and set a good example, Severus met up with Lily.

"Hi Snape"

"Hey Evans" he stammered a bit.

"Look at the spell Professor Flitwick helped me make" Lily twirled her wand about and doodle bats erupted from her wand, fluttering about with paper wings.

He smiled.

"Hey Lily!" a girl called and there was a white flash.

Severus turned to look; Lily was walking towards her friend Alice, whom was holding a Polaroid camera.

"Can I have that picture?"

"Sure, neat dingbats Lily" Alice smiled. "See you around!"

Lily walked up to Severus fanning the picture.

"Can I see it?"

"You have to wait a bit" Lily got in line in front of him.

Severus peered over her shoulder, dingbats were fluttering about with silly faces, Lily was laughing and for the first time in years, Severus was smiling in a photograph.

_To be Continued..._


	20. Chapter 20

**"The Tale of a Broken Man" **

**_By: PsychoHaired_**

_Disclaimer:_ Nope… not mine at all. Blame JK Rowling for this one

A/N: Hehe… er sorry for the lack of updates last week… I was in Florida. This is a long chapter though so it should make up for it… right? Well at least I hope you enjoy it and please review! (By the way… we are nearing the climax of the story!)

_**Chapter 20:**_

Once all the students had been cleared, they all divided into groups of four to be taken to Hogsmeade via Thestral-drawn carriages. Severus shuddered a bit at the sight of the ghostly winged horses but climbed inside nonetheless. The journey was short, just about fifteen minutes away. Once the carriages arrived at to their destination, Severus got off and met up with Lily whom had ridden on a separate carriage with her friends.

"Wow! I've never seen the village during the day!" she exclaimed, "Look at all the decorations!"

Severus stood awkwardly beside her.

"I'll see you guys later!" she waved at her friends whom were shooting Severus apprehensive looks.

"Er… so what do you want to do?"

"Umm, I don't know. Can we look around town for a bit?"

"Okay"

They both walked down Main Street, looking around the shops.

"Oh! So _that's_ Honeydukes!" Lily pointed out.

"Let's go in" Severus smiled; glad she had broken the ice.

Lily walked inside eagerly; Severus followed her in and was greeted by the sweet smell of processed sugar.

"Oh wow, I've never seen these before" Lily pointed out some deep red Popsicles.

"Those are blood-pops, you don't want those"

"Ew gross"

He laughed.

"What are these?" she picked up a packet of gum.

"Those are Droobles; unpoppable bubblegum"

"And those?"

"Liquorice wands"

"I don't like liquorice" she looked around again "Deluxe Sugarquills!" she took a pack "I love these"

Severus grinned.

They walked around the packed store, looking at candy and picking some out.

"Owl Treats?" she asked, "They're not made from owls are they?"

"No" he laughed, "They're sweets for owls"

"Oh! Well then I'm getting Ringo some"

After browsing the store and buying what they wanted, Severus and Lily kept on walking, enjoying their sweets.

"Oh look Sev! They have a sale on clothes!"

"Oh no, you're not going to go girly on me are you?"

"Come on, I need new clothes" Lily grabbed his hand and pulled him inside.

"Girls…" he shook his head wearily as she browed the racks.

"How about this one?"

"It's a shirt…"

"Do you think it'll look good on me?"

"Lily, it's a shirt, shirts look good on you"

"Sev…"

He laughed, "I think you need to go clothes shopping with other girls, it's not quite my thing"

"All right" she chuckled "I see I'm torturing you. I'll come back later with the girls"

"Great, so what do you want to do next?"

"Dunno, let's keep looking around?"

"Okay"

-o-

"…So after I got up from the slide, my sister was pointing at my jumper with this look of pure horror, so I looked down and it was covered in blood! I started crying for my mum of course, all the teachers were freaking out because they didn't know what to do. So when mum finally gets there she just puts a butterfly bandage on my chin; those help seal small cuts, and that was it. It left a scar right there…" she looked up and pointed at her chin.

"I broke my chin when I was about seven, I was at my grandparent's house playing with pots on the kitchen floor and I spilled something. So I got up as quickly as I could to clean it up because I didn't want to get in trouble but I slipped on the mess and sliced my chin open. When I saw all the blood I started screaming. My granddad rushed in and picked me up, he healed it with a tap of his wand and I was okay. Never left a scar though."

"That's not fair" she laughed.

"Oh, want to get some ice-cream?"

"Sure, what's your favourite?"

"Coffee Ice-cream"

"Why am I not surprised" she laughed, "I like Peanut butter"

"Peanut Butter?"

"Yeah, it's really good!"

"Never tasted it" he shrugged.

"Well let's go, I'm sure you'll love it"

They both walked up to the Ice Cream vendor.

"Hello there mates, what can I do you for?" he said in a thick Scottish accent.

"I'll have a scoop of coffee and she'll have a Peanut Butter scoop"

"Coming right up" The Scottish man tipped his tam o' shanter and served them their ice-cream.

Severus paid him and they both sat down on a bench nearby to enjoy their cones.

"Here, try some" he offered Lily some.

"No thanks, I don't like coffee"

"Oh, ok" Severus shook his head and laughed.

"What?"

"This reminds me of Janice"

Lily laughed too "And her evil pickle anchovy ice cream?"

"Yes" he laughed, "I actually tried it, it's disgusting!"

"Ew!"

"I know, it was horrible"

"Gross Sev! Why'd you taste it?"

"I was curious!"

They both laughed, "So have you heard from them lately?"

"Yes actually, last week" he took a bit of his cone " Janice says that she's doing great, the baby kicks a lot apparently"

"Is it a boy or a girl?"

"I don't know, she wants it to be a surprise"

"When is she due?"

"I don't know, around February I guess" Severus stood up and threw his napkin away. "Where do you want to go next?"

"Let's go to Zonko's, I want to see what all the fuss was about"

Severus agreed and followed her into the packed shop. When they entered, the store was packed with about eighty or ninety students, loading up on dungbombs, fanged Frisbees, screaming yo-yo's, biting teacups, talking parchments, trick wands and just about anything else a prankster could ever want. Severus had to admit, their stock was pretty impressive, he even found himself wanting to buy an exploding card set.

"Hey Evans! Evans!" someone called out. Severus turned around and spotted Potter; he glowered.

"So," James stepped up to Lily and ruffled his hair; "couldn't stay away could you? What was it? My dashing good looks? Charming personality— he was cut off.

"Or perhaps it's the gravitational pull on your big fat head!"

"Would you care to escort me to the three broomsticks?" he smiled "I'll buy you a butterbeer"

"Sod off Potter, I didn't come to see you" she crossed her arms, "I'm here with someone else"

"Oh yeah? With whom?"

"With me" Severus stepped besides Lily and narrowed his eyes.

"Ha! Evans, is this true?"

"Yes!"

"What are you doing hanging around this greasy git?"

"He just so happens to be my _date_" she replied hotly.

"Your date?" he stood agape, "You chose **_Snivellus_** over me?"

"Listen you arrogant little wanker! I'm sick of you strutting about acting as if you own her! Leave Lily the bloody hell alone!" Severus stepped closer to James snarling.

"You don't deserve to be with her! You're a dirty, greasy, good-for-nothing Slytherin!" he turned to Lily "Come on Evans, go out with someone of your own social standing"

"No Potter! I-don't-like-you! Can't you get that through your fat head?"

"But everyone adores me!"

"Get away from me!" Lily stormed off.

"If you lay a single hand on her I'll kill you" James whispered threateningly.

"You wouldn't have the guts" he replied lowly, turned around and left.

-o-

"Lily?" Severus found her sitting on a bench looking furious. "Are you okay?"

"I hate him"

"He's an arrogant bastard"

"He's stalking me"

"Do you want me to do something about it?"

"No, I can handle it on my own thanks" she muttered and looked at her watch. "I'm supposed to meet the girls at the Three Broomsticks in fifteen minutes, want to come?"

"No thanks"

"You sure?" she looked disappointed

"No, it's okay. I don't think your friends like me all that much... besides, you'll probably want me picking out skirts" he smirked.

"True…" she laughed. "But my friends like you"

He looked at her sceptically.

"… a little"

He raised his eyebrows.

"Okay, you're right… but they don't know the real you. You're really nice" she smiled.

Severus heart skipped a beat "Er… come on, I'll walk you there"

They walked a little bit in comfortable silence until they reached the Three Broomsticks.

"Well, goodbye" she said awkwardly.

"Have fun"

"Sev?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks, I had a great time" she smiled and kissed him on the cheek "Bye!" she went inside.

Severus grinned and stuck his hands in his pockets. He decided to head back to the carriages, heart pounding rapidly. A low rumble in the sky was heard in the distance.

-o-

When he reached the coaches, a large eagle owl fluttered down in front of him and held out its leg. Severus looked at it quizzically and untied the roll of parchment. It was a message from Azkaban. Droplets of rain started to fall down.

Dear Mr. S. Snape 

_It is with our deepest sorrows to inform you that Mrs. Eileen P. Snape was found dead in her cell this morning. Services will be held tomorrow evening at the prison. This letter is a Portkey that will be activated tomorrow at noon. Our deepest and sincerest condolences,_

_Azkaban Prison_

_P.S. Enjoy your Halloween!_

Severus felt his stomach drop to the ground, his knees buckled and he crashed down on the floor on all fours, shaking, the rain pouring harder still, soaking him to the bone. His mother was _dead_…

To Be Continued… 

A/N- At long last I finished writing this! I'd just like to point out that I have sixteen schooldays left until my graduation and we are getting a bleep load of work and I hadn't been able to finish typing this out until today! I have to go and finish a book before Friday… only 200 pages to go :joy: I hope to hear from my faithful readers and… :Ahem: PLEASE DON'T KILL ME YET!

I'd also like to say that "Or perhaps it's the gravitational pull on your big fat head!" was absolutely my FAVOURITE line to write in this whole thing XD


	21. Chapter 21

**"The Tale of a Broken Man" **

**_By: PsychoHaired_**

_Disclaimer: _Blame J.K…

A/N- Finally spring break… yeah right! Listen, sorry for the lack of updates recently. I have about 10 school days left until finals and the teachers just hit us with a bunch of projects and homework… it's been awful. I only have one day left of spring break and I FINALLY have time to write this down. I never even went to the beach; I was so busy doing the stupid projects! My teachers don't have a soul… Nevertheless… I refuse to abandon this fic and I WILL finish it! Due to my situation right now, I find that weekly updates will be quite impossible but I will try to get a chapter in less than three weeks all right? Also, I hope that when summer gets here I can have more free time and hopefully finish this. So, here's the newest chapter and although it is short, I still hope that you all enjoy it :)

_**Chapter 21:**_

Severus walked slowly towards Hogwarts Castle, sopping wet, shivering from the cold and white as a ghost. The letter was clutched between his long, trembling pale fingers as he slowly made his way through the main entrance. Many students looked at him oddly as he passed, tracking mud and water behind him. Mr. Filch, the caretaker, was yelling somewhere to his right, but Severus didn't seem to notice, nor care. Thunder clapped somewhere off in the distance as he climbed down the stairs that lead to the Slytherin Common Room. He felt a heavy hand on his shoulder and turned around.

"Severus, I am so sorry about your mother" Professor Slughorn muttered grimly. "I've just spoken to your foster parents" he paused and breathed heavily. "Eileen was an excellent student… I was very fond of her"

Severus looked at him.

"I wish to pay her my last respects"

He nodded and continued on his way, trembling, numb.

-o-

Noon approached slowly as Severus sat on the edge of his four-poster, he had not slept that night, he had not cried, the moment he'd finished reading that letter, a vast hollowness had set within him…

His roommates knew, they shot him pitying looks and never spoke a word to him. Regulus had shown up sometime around twilight and sat with him in silence for hours until the sun had come up, just as silently as he'd come in, he disappeared.

Severus looked at the clock; it was time. He pulled out the letter from his coat pocket and waited. A few moments later he felt a jerk from behind his navel and felt himself spinning into the void, a blur of colours speeding by.

He landed flat on his back a few minutes later in a desolate and cold place. He got up slowly, looking around.

"Severus" a familiar voice whispered.

He turned around and came face to face with a very big-bellied Janice.

"It's alright" she whispered, "It's ok…" she coddled him.

Severus trembled.

"Come on, the ceremony will begin shortly" Janice led him with her hand on his shoulder to a small congregation of people. Some familiar, others complete strangers to him.

The sky was overcast; a low rumbling could be heard in the distance. Severus approached the casket; it was deep mahogany, closed. He shuddered involuntarily as he placed a cold hand on the smooth surface. _'Why'd you give up mum?', _he thought _'Why'd you leave me alone?'_. His hands shook as he walked back with Janice.

Severus felt a hand on his shoulder once more; he looked up to meet the gaze of Headmaster Dumbledore. He stared into his deep azure eyes in desperation _'I should be dead, not her' **'She gave you a chance!' **_Severus looked at him in confusion… Dumbledore stared back in an odd sort of peace. He breathed in deeply, shakily and looked away. A short bald priest began to give the eulogy as Severus listened half-heartedly; lost in a train of thought.

He thought about when he was younger; when neither he nor his father knew what he really was, they all lived happily. He remembered when his mother told him he was different, how his father began to drink heavily after that. He remembered how drunk he'd used to get, how he'd beat up his mother. He remembered wondering why she didn't fight back. He remembered defending her and getting beat up for it. He remembered living with his grandparents for a few years until they died of old age. He remembered how terrified he would be whenever his mum screamed. He remembered the night one of them committed murder, when the judge gave his sentence, when he said goodbye. He saw the casket being lowered into the ground; he saw the dirt filling up the grave, he saw with blurry vision, his throat burning, warm tears threatening to pour out… He said goodbye in a drowned whisper, he said goodbye one last time…

_To Be Continued..._

A/N- Again sorry for lateness AND shortness... hope you still liked it? Please Review


	22. Chapter 22

**"The Tale of a Broken Man" **

**_By: PsychoHaired_**

_Disclaimer: _Everything is J.K. Rowling's

A/N- Oh my God you guys! I finished school! I'm no longer a Senior! Well… technically I am, my graduation is on the 19th but after that I wont be a Senior anymore! Fourteen years of hard work are finally paying off… I hope I don't cry. Anyways here's the 22nd instalment in The Tale of a Broken Man. (Honestly, that title's getting quite annoying to type out so from now on I'll refer to this story as "Broken" though I won't change the title. Okay... on to the chapter!

_**Chapter 22:**_

The last month of autumn died away with the coming of winter. Winter in turn had slowly ebbed away with spring. All the while, Eileen's passing had left a void in Severus's heart, turning him stoic and bitter to everything and everyone around him. With passing time, Severus's more than friendly feelings towards Lily Evans grew into somewhat of an obsession. Whenever she was near, he was suddenly at a loss of words and could no longer meet her electrifying eyes. This increasing nervousness often caused him to behave defensively, snapping at her and acting cruelly. Later on he would feel horrible, wanting to make up but never finding the courage to. Lily eventually left him alone, presumably scared of his new character. But not a day passed that she wasn't on his mind, her face often haunting his daydreams, her eyes lingering in his restless slumber. Her presence now a quick silhouette, her glances now a quick glimmer of emerald radiance, her name a trembling whisper on his lips…

"Oi Snape!" a loud banging on the door shook him to reality. "Hurry up in there! I need to use the toilet!"

Severus snarled, washing his hands and wiping them clean. He flung the door open with a flick of his wand and stormed out.

"Nice Playwitch Montague" he sneered.

His roommate scowled, "How'd you-

Severus tutted and walked away as Montague slammed the door behind him, clutching the magazine tightly.

Severus had recently been reading on Legilimency ever since he realized he and Dumbledore had had some sort of telekinetic connection at his mother's burial. He found that he could penetrate weak minds with ease after a few weeks, being able to "read" the target's current thought. However, he knew that that wasn't the extent of Legilimency, and accomplished Legilimens could attack minds, bore into your darkest innermost memories and view them at his or her own will. Severus also learned that many of his classmates were easy to read; however, he found difficulty in reading people such as Regulus, James and to his disappointment, Lily. However, he could easily use Legilimency on most of his roommates (like Montague), Peter Pettigrew's and to his amusement, most Hufflepuffs.

-o-

The bell rang, signalling the beginning of Transfiguration. Professor McGonagall was giving them a lecture on basic metamorphosis theory, a subject Severus had already read up on. He found himself trying to break into Professor McGonagall's mind but discovered it to be quite impossible. At times he thought he was able to read snippets but felt extremely exhausted afterwards. Severus grew increasingly bored and began to doodle absentmindedly on a piece of parchment. "_L.E. + S.S._" covered most of the paper. He was beginning to write "_Potter stinks_", when his parchment was summoned by said idiot. Potter read his doodles and glared, scribbled something and threw it back at him. Severus opened it, it read, "_Keep your greasy hands off her or I'll swear on my broom I'll kick your sorry a-_

"Potter! Snape! Although I am quite surprised as to your new animosity, I'd appreciate if you would cease to pass notes in my class!" Professor McGonagall snapped.

"Sorry Professor" they both muttered.

Severus turned towards James and shot him a death-glare.

He spent the rest of the class reading his book on Legilimency. He locked his gaze on the back of Potter's head, willing him to look at him. After a few minutes, he looked back. Severus tried to attack his mind over and over again, he finally managed to read '**_…cking kill him if he…_**' before the ringing bell broke his concentration.

Once outside the classroom, Severus heard his name.

"…is such a git! Thinking he has a chance! Sirius, do you know why she even went out with the bastard?"

Severus ducked behind a tapestry to listen.

"She went insane?"

Potter laughed. "To make me jealous! I overheard one of her friends the other day saying Evans had seen me kissing that pretty Ravenclaw and…" he trailed off while Black laughed.

A group of students rushed by loudly. Severus missed the rest of the conversation but was furious. Lily had used him! To take revenge on Potter no less! Severus clenched his fists tightly, nails digging into his skin, throat burning. "Filthy mudblood" he muttered, shaking with rage, eyes prickling. Severus sped out of the tapestry, feeling his chest aching.

If Severus would have stayed a second later, he might have heard the last bit of their conversation…

"Do you think he heard me?" James asked Sirius eagerly.

"By the way he looked, I'd say yes"

"James, don't you think that was a bit harsh?" Remus asked.

"Who cares? Let's get to Herbology, I hear we're finally getting into greenhouse number four today!" Sirius said excitedly.

"So?"

"Mandrakes Remus!" he clapped his hands in excitement. 'Think of the possibilities!"

_To Be Continued…_

A/N- Woot! Done with this chapter, I know it's short but that's how I originally planned it. Please review, next chapter is already written in pen so expect it soon:)


	23. Chapter 23

**"The Tale of a Broken Man" **

**_By: PsychoHaired_**

_Disclaimer: _Everything here belongs to J.K. Rowling, except parts of this plot. Also, if any names sound familiar they might have come from other authors as well.

A/N- Hey you guys! I'm graduating this Friday! I shall no longer be a high school student! Woot! I am PSYCHED! Also, it's almost summer which means more updates! Yay! Anyways, I'm happy to announce that I have up to Chapter 25 written down and I am currently finishing the 26th! Wow, today was just packed with good news huh? So, here's the 23rd instalment of Broken, Enjoy!

_**Chapter 23:**_

"Well, this is our last third year class, next time you set foot in these dungeons you'll be taking your finals. Now, I hope you all study hard, today we will be brewing a simple fever reducing draught, so get into the assigned pairs on the board." Professor Slughorn flicked his wand and a list of paired up students appeared on the blackboard.

As usual, Severus was paired with Lily. He was still furious at her and refused to meet her gaze, nevertheless, he did not protest and instead unleashed his pent up frustrations onto chopping up herbs rather viciously.

"Er…Severus?"

"Evans?" he snapped.

"Are you feeling alright?"

"Oh I'm just _splendid,_ now if you don't mind, I'd like to get this over with"

Lily looked hurt for a second but then scowled. "Fine, be that way, I was just trying to—

But whatever she was trying to do Severus didn't care and cut her off. "Just dump that in there" he pointed at the grey powder. Lily harrumphed and continued and continued her work.

They both worked in angry silence, though quite efficiently and were done in just under fifteen minutes.

"Merlin's beard! Done already Smashing work, 20 points each!" Professor Slughorn beamed at the pair. As he went on about what brilliant potion makers they were, Severus was shooting his partner fiery glares.

-o-

"Oi Sev!" Regulus called.

"What do you want?" he turned to him.

"Whoah… looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the cave this morning" he smirked.

"Thanks" he said sourly and turned to leave.

"Wait! What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong! Everything is just perfect!" he spat.

"What happened?" Regulus crossed his arms slyly.

"Nothing!"

"Does this have to do with a certain redhead?"

"Do NOT mention that mudblood traitor to me?" he said dangerously.

Regulus stopped. "Harsh, did you just call her a—

"Piss off!" Severus stormed off but Regulus grabbed his shoulder.

"I just want to help"

Severus groaned. "It's my problem, I'll deal with it."

Regulus looked taken aback.

Severus turned to leave again.

"Come play exploding snap… take a load off"

"Regulus…"

"Don't drown yourself in the lake"

He sighed reluctantly "Fine"

Regulus grinned.

After two or three games, Severus was feeling slightly better and began to head downstairs to study for his finals.

"You study too much…"

"You don't"

"I get by." Regulus laughed. "By the way, last game's tomorrow, going against the Gryffindorks… you going?" he said tentatively.

"Dunno"

"I promise to knock him off his broom"

Severus perked up a bit. "Sure"

-o-

It was a very sunny afternoon; everywhere around you could see students chattering cheerfully about the match that would soon take place. This was the deciding game for the Quidditch Cup and the majority of the school was hoping for a Gryffindor victory.

The players had taken to hiding these last few days, taking the longer routes and secret passageways while travelling from class to class; mostly because the opposing team's house could hex them whenever they saw an opportunity for it.

To Severus's glee, James had been hexed about five or six times in the last couple of hours; last one having him spew out butterflies whenever he tried to speak, courtesy of Severus himself.

Right now though, everyone was heading towards the Pitch, trying to get the best seats possible. When Severus finally reached the top box, the Quidditch Pitch was packed. A few fans were even conjuring up floating seats to get a better view.

About twenty minutes later, fourteen players shot out into the field, taking a lap around and causing uproar. The referee, a short plump man blew the whistle and the Captains shook hands. After that, he released the balls and the match began.

"And Gryffindor takes possession of the ball! Potter passes to Longbottom… lovely broomwork there, passing to Kensington and he fumbles! Slytherin now has possession of the Quaffle, Dent passes to Nulty and he's intercepted by James Potter!"

-o-

The game was tied, 2050 to 2050 and had been going on for hours, the sun was beginning to set and the floodlights had just been turned on. The crowd seemed tired and hoarse from all the cheering, some had gone back to the castle.

"Well folks…" came the hoarse and monotone voice of the announcer. "It has been confirmed, we've just set a school record for the longest match" he continued. "Potter has the ball, shoots it… Gryffindor 2060, Slytherin 2050" he yawned. " Slytherin's has possession of the Quaffle, Webster passes to Dent, Dent to Nulty, back to Webster and he's intercepted by Longbottom… oh! And he is hit by a bludger! … or maybe he collapsed from exhaustion" he muttered and the crowd gave an appreciative laugh. "Nope, he's back on his broom, Potter's got the Quaffle again, passes to Kensington, then to Longbottom, OW THAT HAD TO HURT! Potter was just pummelled by two bludgers courtesy of Regulus Black yet again! Ladies and gentlemen, if I didn't know any better I'd say the bloke holds a mean grudge against him… Merlin! He just fell off his broomstick! Is he unconscious!" The Slytherins roared in delight. "Hey shut up! I think he's badly hurt someone should get Madame – the Gryffindor seeker has caught the snitch! McDOWD CAUGHT THE SNITCH! FINALLY I CAN GO BACK AND TAKE A SHOWER! …Oh yeah! Gryffindor wins the Quidditch Cup! I'm leaving now…"

-o-

After the rest of the school went down, Severus headed to his Common Room. When he got in the mood was rather sulky.

"Hey Snape!"

Regulus looked up to find an exhausted looking Regulus.

"Good game, too bad we lost"

"Yeah… who cares though, I knocked Potter down five times!"

Severus smirked. "I think that last hit cracked his thick skull"

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow, I'm going to bed… Six fucking hours… can you believe that?"

"Tut-tut, watch your tongue little Reggie" Severus was in a better mood.

"Sod off mumsy dearest" he laughed again. "See you around"

Severus yawned too and decided that going to bed wasn't such a bad idea at all.

_To Be Continued…_

A/N- Done with this, next chapter will be letters! Please Review… as a graduation present? Wee!


	24. Chapter 24

**"The Tale of a Broken Man" **

**_By: PsychoHaired_**

_Disclaimer: _Everything is J.K.'s

A/N- Well I'm back again with another chapter and yes, it IS the famous "summer letters" chapter. I had a LOT of fun writing this one. To Zoey… yes, it was because of you :P

**IMPORTANT!- I have Removed The Author's Note Chapter so MAKE SURE YOU HAVE READ THE CHAPTER BEFORE THIS!**

_**Chapter 24:**_

_Severus,_

_What on Earth did I ever do to you? Am I supposed to apologize for something, because frankly, I have no idea why you're treating me so indifferently. If it's because of your mum… I know it's hard to lose someone close but you can't shove people away! Anyways, please owl me back._

_-Lily_

_P.S. Here's the picture Alice took of us, I thought you might like it._

-o-

_Hey Severus!_

_How's your summer been? My idiotic brother has been driving me mad! Yesterday he put jalapenos in my sandwich; it's still burning! Anyways, just wondering how you've been and also ask if you wanted to spend a few weeks here._

_-Regulus_

_P.S. Will you tell me what was bugging you now?_

-o-

_Hello Regulus,_

_I'm fine I guess. I don't know if I ever told you, but Janice was pregnant… and I mean REALLY pregnant. She had fraternal twins, Danny and Zoey. Those little brats won't stop crying for Merlin's sake, it's driving me insane! I asked Phil if I could go, he said it was okay. Honestly, I can't wait…all the screaming babies is enough to make me Avada Kedavra myself._

_-Severus_

_P.S. Sod off…_

-o-

_Severus, _

_It's been two weeks since I owled you, now I'm sure you're mad at me or something… What did I do? I'm sorry? _

_-Lily_

-o-

_Hey Severus! _

_Ha! I'd gladly trade Sirius for the screaming twins any day. Remember that Jalapeno? Well the day after I found his stash and rubbed it all over his toilet paper… poor bloke can't stand still, let alone sit down. He's furious Severus, he's out to get me and he'll get me good… By the way, is the week after the next okay?_

_-Regulus_

_P.S. Come on, tell me!_

-o-

_Regulus,_

_I bow down to you, Jalapeno toilet paper… I've got to remember that one. Genius… sheer brilliance. Meanwhile, Janice finally found a way to keep Zoey and Danny quiet. They instantly shut up whenever I read to them… it's quite disturbing. No she dumps them on me whenever she gets the chance, it's really annoying. Anyways, I've begun packing; I reckon I'll see you soon._

_-Severus_

_P.S. It's none of your business._

-o-

_Dear Severus,_

_This is the last owl I'll send you; I can take a hint… Just wanted to let you know that whatever I did that upset you, I'm sorry. I don't know if you'll read this, let alone what I'm apologizing for. I hope you'll forgive me someday; you really are a great guy…_

_-Lily_

-o-

_Hey Severus,_

_He got me…he got me good. I knew that toilet paper would come back to haunt me! Yesterday while I was in the shower… my dear brother shot me with a Brazilian Wax Hex… Oh yeah, it still hurts…let's just say I'm pretty sure I prefer childbirth. I retaliated of course…made his hair pink, but that doesn't compare to my pain. Brazilians are evil…_

_-Regulus_

_P.S. You know you want to tell…_

-o-

_Regulus,_

_One word: **Ouch. **I can't believe he gave you a Brazilian Wax… I shudder at the mere thought. Note to self: Learn hex for future use. I'll see you then._

_-Severus_

_P.S. I really don't want to talk about it… so don't push it_

-o-

_To Be Continued…_

A/N- Yay! I'm done with the letter chapter; next one will be taking place at Grimauld Place! I hope you enjoyed this, even thought it's short, I think the next couple of chapters are also short, but I doubt they're as short as this one. Anyways, I'll have much more time now to update, especially after June 20th when I move to Florida. Yay! So I hope you guys enjoy your summer, and for those who will be graduating soon, good luck and congratulations! Please Review :)


	25. Chapter 25

**"The Tale of a Broken Man" **

**_By: PsychoHaired_**

_Disclaimer: _Every recognizable term here belongs to J.K. Rowling except a few names, which I borrowed from other books/anime/manga/etc.

A/N- Back again with another chapter! I finally have my high school diploma, I was ranked 11 in a class of 84 students (Yay!), I was on the honour roll, I got a perfect conduct award… wow, I'm the epitome of nerdness. Last night we had our class night in which we give out weird awards like the class drunk or the chimney (smokes a lot), I got the future Picasso award (Yay again!). Oh! And I was nominated for "Tit-tanic" (biggest boobs) but I lost… meh. That was slightly embarrassing what with my dad there and everything… Ahem. This Chapter takes place at Grimauld Place and I'd like to point out that even though it is the first time I write about it, Severus has been here before (says so in one of the letter chapters). Just in case a few things don't make sense. Anyways, here's the new chapter and I hope you enjoy!

_**Chapter 25:**_

Severus paced the room looking for anything he might be missing; he checked under the bed and pulled out an old shoebox. He sighed and opened it. Inside were all his old pictures with his mum, a few letters she had sent him, a picture of Lily attached to all the letters she'd sent him, plus the picture of the two of them he'd received a few days ago. Severus scowled and closed the lid; he meant to put it back under his bed but decided otherwise and stuffed it in the bottom of his trunk.

Downstairs the twins began screaming. He groaned and counted off with his fingers. "Three…two…one…"

"Severus!" Janice called from the kitchen downstairs.

He sighed. "I'm going!" Severus grabbed a potions book and trotted downstairs and into the living room where the father, Phil, was frantically trying to calm them down.

"I've got it" Severus said, waving his book in the air.

Phil gave a sigh of relief and placed an inconsolable Danny on Severus's lap.

"All right you two stop bawling," he yelled over the infernal crying. "Chapter Twenty-five! Love Potions" he began to read loudly and the crying began to die down.

"Er Severus, why are you reading from a Potion's book?"

"They don't understand a word I'm saying. Might as well study in the process"

The twins began to cry again.

"Carry on then!" Phil yelled over the noise.

"A love potion is a potion that makes it's drinker show the side effects of being in love. However, love cannot be produced in a cauldron so therefore a "Love Potion" is a erroneous term." The twins stopped crying, and looked intently at Severus whom was immersed in what he was reading. "Among the various 'love' potions, Amortentia is the most powerful of all, causing the drinker to become infatuated by whomever's DNA is inside it, such as a hair or a nail. It has very distinct characteristics such as a mother of pearl sheen and spiralling fumes. Most interesting however, is that it possesses a different scent to different people, depending on…" Severus stopped reading as he noticed both Zoey and Danny had fallen asleep. Phil gave him an appreciative look to which Severus answered with a curt nod. He then picked up the slumbering Danny off his lap and placed him in his cradle.

"I'm going to Regulus's house in a few minutes" he whispered.

"Alright, do you need anything?"

He shook his head and went to the kitchen to say goodbye to Janice. She thanked him for all his help with the children and gave him a hug, which he received awkwardly. After summoning his trunk downstairs, Severus stepped into the green-flamed fireplace and spiralled off to number twelve, Grimauld Place.

-O-

Severus emerged from the Black's fireplace lightly covered in soot and was quickly greeted by Regulus.

"Hey Severus! How's it been?"

"Decent" he shrugged and grabbed his trunk.

"Oh no, don't worry…" Regulus turned around and cupped his hand over his mouth and yelled, "Kreacher!"

An old looking House-elf walked into the foyer. "Yes young master?"

"Take Severus's luggage upstairs"

Kreacher eyed Severus beadily and nodded. Severus looked at the ratty old elf oddly.

"Don't mind him" Regulus's voice dropped to a whisper. "He's going senile"

"Thought he already was last time I saw him…"

Regulus laughed as they both started walking towards the backyard.

"Mum's out shopping with my aunt but when she gets back we can eat dinner."

"Okay" Severus said, he didn't really mind since he wasn't hungry.

"Meanwhile, let's fly for a bit, it's boiling today!"

"I'm not much of a flyer… bad experiences with brooms."

"You can't be horridly awful…" Regulus smirked and opened what looked like a tool shed. "Here," he handed him a broomstick; "you can use my old Comet".

"Regulus…" Severus began to protest but he had already kicked off.

"I'll race you!" Regulus yelled.

Severus groaned and mounted his broom "All right, I give up" he kicked off the ground a bit shakily at first and met Regulus in the air.

"Ready…" Regulus began; "…set" Regulus sped off laughing.

"Hey!" Severus darted behind him. "Cheater!"

"I bet I can beat you to that apple tree!"

Severus gripped his broom tightly after it began to sway a bit. "You're on!" he yelled, shooting behind him.

Severus had to begrudgingly admit to himself… flying wasn't as horrible as he remembered it to be. It felt quite liberating actually. He was catching up to Regulus steadily now but he never was able to pass him before reaching the tree.

"You lost Severus" Regulus laughed. "I'm the king of the brooms!" he laughed.

Severus rolled his eyes, picked an apple and wiped it on his shirt.

"You're not a bad flyer you know…"

"Horrible, more like" he smirked.

"No seriously! You're quite decent."

"Er, thanks… I think" Severus bit into his apple.

Regulus smacked him upside the head and sped off yelling, "You're it!"

"Regulus! What are you, four?" Severus yelled after him, laughing.

They spent the next few hours playing tag and playing catch with apples.

-O-

"Master Regulus, Mr. Snape… dinner is served" Old Kreacher announced as he entered Regulus's room.

"Okay, we'll be right down" Regulus replied.

Kreacher turned around and left, muttering to himself.

"I swear… we'll have to decapitate that thing soon" Regulus rolled his eyes as Severus chuckled.

They both went downstairs and into the dining room where Severus spotted Regulus's parents seated.

"Good evening dad, mum" Regulus nodded at each.

"Good evening, Mr. And Mrs. Black, thank you for letting me stay." Severus said curtly.

"It's our pleasure," said Mr. Black.

"How are your uncles?" Mrs. Black inquired as Severus sat down next to Regulus.

Severus looked puzzled for a moment until he remembered his supposed Ukrainian uncle whom owned the Ukrainian Quidditch Team. "Oh! I don't know… I haven't heard from them"

Regulus shot him an apologetic look.

"Oh well, send them our regards."

"Regulus, where is your older brother?" Mrs. Black looked at him accusingly. "I haven't seen him all day" her eyes narrowed.

Regulus gulped. "Er… I umm—

The dining room door opened and Sirius stepped inside. Severus dropped his fork '_Shit!' _he thought; '_I forgot the bastard still lived here!_'

Sirius eyed Severus with a mix of surprise and disgust.

"What's he doing here?" Sirius pointed.

"Sirius, don't be rude to your brother's guest!" Mr. Black snapped.

"Why the fu—

"Sirius Black where have you been all day!" his mother snapped.

"…At the Potter's" Sirius crossed his arms defiantly.

Regulus cringed.

"How many times have I told you NOT to socialize with those blood traitors!"

"Mum he's my best friend!" Sirius yelled back.

"You are a Black! Black's don't mix with their type!"

"Now dear… remember our guest" Mr. Black tried to calm her down but was blatantly ignored.

"You are not to see that boy again, you hear me?"

"No! I've had it with you mother! You are a bigot!" he spat. "Some of my best friends are muggle-borns! And guess what! I-DON'T-CARE! I'm leaving and I'm not coming back! You hear me! Never!" Sirius stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

"Sirius Centauri Black you come back here this instant!" Mrs. Black stormed out of the dining room immediately, husband in tow.

Several shouts and crashes were heard from beyond the closed door. Sirius bellowed something unintelligible followed by angered screams from Mrs. Black.

Meanwhile, Regulus and Severus snuck out of the dining room, using Kreacher's passages and locking the door to Regulus's room. Severus sat on his makeshift bed feeling like an intruder. A few minutes after the yelling and crashing subsided, someone tapped on Regulus's windowpane. Sirius was outside on his broomstick, sporting several scratches and bruises. Regulus opened his window.

"Redge, can I borrow some gold?"

"You're really leaving?"

"I can't stand this place anymore, I'm staying at the Leaky Cauldron for a few days"

"…"

"Don't worry, I'll be fine" Sirius hesitated, "I'm moving in with the Potter's next week"

"You mean you were planning this?"

"Well… sort of, yeah. I talked to James's parents and told them what was going on here… they offered me a place to stay if things got out of hand; you can come too"

"I can't leave mum and dad alone Sirius"

"All right, I understand… but if you need anything"

Regulus nodded.

"Can you er… guard my stuff before mum blows up my room?"

"I'll owl them to you" Regulus tossed him a bag of gold. "There's about twenty galleons in there"

"Thanks Redge… and thanks for covering for me"

"No problem"

"See you at school then"

"See you…"

"Hey Snivel… Er… I mean, Snape"

Severus looked up.

"Sorry you er… had to see that" Sirius mumbled quickly and sped off.

Severus sat in shock for a while. The evil, cruel, arrogant arse Sirius Black acting civilly and apologizing… to him of all people? There was definitely something wrong with that picture. He glanced over at Regulus; Severus had never actually noticed how close those two were despite the things they did to each other. Regulus looked downright suicidal.

"Regulus…" Severus said tentatively.

"I'm going to bed, see you tomorrow Snape" Regulus said dully and turned off the lights.

_To Be Continued…_

A/N- Poor Sirius… he's human after all. Well, this chapter was a lot better, six full pages! Now you definitely can't complain today! Anyways, next chapter will include the end of summer, Platform 9 and 3/4 and the beginning of 4th year! Yay!

And just because I feel like it and I haven't done it in a LONG time… here's a…

**SNEAK PREVIEW!**

_Severus heard his fingers cracking painfully and hissed in pain. "Great bloody fucking beginning to a fucking perfect year" he spat, cradling his hand. _

Hmm… not much of a preview… but a preview nonetheless! Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Have an awesome summer!


	26. Chapter 26

**"The Tale of a Broken Man" **

**_By: PsychoHaired_**

_Disclaimer:_ I do not own Harry Potter nor any related names; they are just being used to fill the void the wait for the seventh instalment in the wonderful series has created in me.

A/N- Sorry for the lack of updates, I am busy moving seventeen years of useless crap that has been part of my life into a rather large trunk… Yes, I am moving; the reason for this is that I'm going to be starting college in Florida. Yay me! I have mixed feelings right now. I'm happy, but I'm also sad. The thing is, I can't wait to start a part of my new life… but I don't want to leave my old life behind, all my friends, my family, my boyfriend… I might not see them in years at a time and I'm going to miss them so much. On the upside, I will make new friends and meet new people, and so will they. I wish I had more time though… Anyways, before I breakdown into a sobbing, mopey mess… here's the new chapter. Enjoy!

_**Chapter 26:**_

The rest of the summer went by miserably enough. The usually cheerful, peppy, and annoyingly charming Regulus Black was suffering through bouts of depression and Severus wasn't much help in cheering him up, as he was also miserably depressed and sour. Regulus's Parents were constantly at each other's throats and when they finally quieted down, you could sense the tension lingering throughout the entire household.

Kreacher was always in a foul mood most of the time and prowling around the house muttering insults directed mostly at the eldest Black brother. The little creature shot Severus looks of disgust whenever they were in the same room. Somehow, the house-elf had found out about Severus's true heritage but was ordered to keep to himself by Regulus. Suffice it to say, when September 1st came around, both boys were eager to leave that grim old place behind.

-o-

It was raining hard; Severus was focused on the tapping noise the downpour created against the speeding Knight Bus he and Regulus were riding in. He lazily watched as the fat water droplets rolled down the glass window with increasing velocity. Soon enough, the Knight Bus arrived at Kings Cross Station and both boys got off, unloading their trunks as quickly as possible. When the cost was clear, they casually leaned into Platform 9 and 3/4.

"Oh look! There's Phinneas and Doge. I'll see you later Severus" Regulus said, dragging his trunk, giving him a quick wave.

Severus shivered slightly; he and Regulus had to cross a couple of streets through the downpour so the muggles wouldn't notice the massive purple bus they had ridden in. Severus nodded and pulled his trunk, his shoes making an odd squelching noise as he walked. With his free hand, he swept his lank wet hair from his eyes and continued walking towards the scarlet train. From the corner of his eye, Severus caught a flicker of bright auburn. He turned to look and felt his heart pace quicken; Lily Evans looked even more beautiful than he remembered. She casually flipped her hair back as she chatted with her friends, laughing at something they had said. Suddenly, she turned and spotted him, Severus cursed under his breath and looked away quickly, he had stared too long and she noticed. He started to walk again and looked back at her, she had turned away, Severus sighed, she looked back at him once more, causing him to slip and fall; the contents of his trunk spilling around everywhere. Severus cursed again, picking up his things as fast as he could.

"Well, well, well…" a cruel voice started. "Look who decided to take a shower".

"Shove off Potter" Severus gripped his wand tightly without looking up.

"What's this?" Potter bent over to pick an old shoebox up.

"Gross James, if you touch that you'll get grease all over you" Sirius stepped besides his friend with a smirk.

Severus flashed them a death glare as the train whistle blew.

"We'll see you soon Snivelly" James said as he left, stepping on Severus's hand deliberately.

Severus heard his fingers cracking painfully as he hissed in pain. "Great bloody fucking beginning to another fucking perfect year" he spat, cradling his hand carefully.

-o-

The train rolled along steadily through the countryside, rain still pounding against the glass window. Severus had found a compartment for himself and was now tossing and turning in his sleep…

_Severus cawed and flapped his sleek black wings, flying towards a big tree by an ominous looking black lake. The sky was dark and a low rumble of thunder could be heard in the distance._

_A small auburn bird sang kindly and flew off; Severus flew with it happily. Suddenly, a fast little blackbird flew with them, tweeting at the lovely red bird. The blackbird and the pretty auburn bird flew off together towards the big tree, leaving the poor raven behind._

_Feeling bitter and cold, the raven fluttered down to the ground, weak and heartbroken. A huge snake slithered precariously towards him. The raven, afraid to be eaten alive, directed the enormous serpent towards the large tree by the lake._

_Realizing what it had just done, the raven flew back to warn that pretty red bird that it was in danger. But when the raven landed on the pretty auburn bird's nest, all it found was a tiny egg with an unusual crack on it; next to it, were red and black feathers covered in blood._

_The raven flew away desperately, looking for the pretty red bird that had flown with him. With panic, the raven realized all of its feathers were falling and it began to fall fast, landing on the floor with a dull_ 'Thud!'

Severus woke up with a start in a mess of tangled robes. He noticed the train had stopped and students were getting off. He rubbed his head gingerly as he stood up and straightened out his damp clothes. Severus shivered slightly as he got off the train, trying unsuccessfully to shake an odd feeling of déjà vu. It was still raining; Severus cursed.

-o-

The bell rang, making Severus jump with a start. He gathered up his incomplete History of Magic notes and stuffed them in his book bag, leaving the classroom to eat lunch. He perked up a bit when he noticed they were serving his favourite dish and loaded his plate with mashed potatoes. A few minutes later, Regulus and his friends joined him. They were talking about last week's Appleby Arrows match excitedly.

"That save Finnerty made was amazing! Was that a double-barrel sloth grip?"

"No, no, I think it was an elbow wrenching monkey twist"

"No! That was Gables from the other team you idiot!"

"Was not!"

"Was too!"

The guys kept on going at it while Severus rolled his eyes.

"Hey Severus," Regulus began. "Our team needs a new seeker this year and try-outs are tomorrow."

"Yeah, so?"

"Well you're going to try out, right?"

"Are you bloody joking?" Severus nearly choked.

"No, I'm serious. I saw you flying and catching apples this summer and you weren't that bad"

"Snape plays Quidditch? No way!" One of the arguing boys turned over to their conversation, looking impressed.

"I don't"

"But you're pretty fast… and with a bit more practise you could—

"Regulus you are off your rocker. I can't play to save my life!"

"Think about it!"

"Okay…" he paused. "No fucking way" Severus helped himself to seconds, feeling both amused and annoyed.

"Come on!"

"No"

Regulus groaned.

Severus finished his mashed potatoes and left the table, shaking his head in mild amusement. Him? Play Quidditch? No way! The mere thought of it was laughable, ridiculously ludicrous! Severus left the Great Hall towards his Arithmancy class where he picked up his book on Legilimency and began to read once more.

Once class began, Severus had to put his book away and was busy copying the new, more complex tables. Professor Vector even assigned them loads of Practice Sets to hand in the next day. Severus groaned, it was his first day of class and already he had two essays and now the p-sets.

Not a moment too soon, the bell rang and Severus got up, looking forward to his next class, Potions.

-o-

"Good Evening students" Slughorn greeted, "And welcome to fourth year Potions." Slughorn produced a box that read 'Dr. Filibuster's Wet-start Fireworks'. "As always, in this first class I shall test if your brewing is up to par. You'll brew a rather tricky pepperup potion and the best one shall get Zonko's latest product, which will not be in stores until Christmas, Dr. Filibuster's Amazing Wet-start Fireworks!" Slughorn grinned at all the eager-looking students, puffing his enormous belly pompously. "Instructions are on page twenty-three, you may begin."

Severus quickly began preparing his ingredients, ignoring the book's outdated instructions. Like most fourth year level potions, Severus knew how to prepare this one by heart. After he was done preparing his ingredients and tools, Severus set his cauldron to a boil and began brewing. About half-an-hour later, he was bottling up his sample and setting it on the table when a loud 'poof!' was heard, quickly followed by large billowing quantities of green, mint scented smoke.

Everyone started coughing and when the smoke finally started clearing, Severus turned around to see what had happened. Professor Slughorn walked over to the source of the explosion; a tall Slytherin boy with sharp features Severus had never spoken to.

"Ah! It seems as though you're not quite up to par this year Lestrange" Professor Slughorn shook his head gravely. "Severus?"

Severus looked up in annoyance, knowing what was going to be asked of him… he didn't like it one bit.

"Would you kindly tutor Mr. Lestrange?"

Severus opened his mouth to protest but was cut off.

"Excellent! I expect do wonders with him." The professor grinned.

"But— he began to protest but was cut off yet again.

"You can use my classroom, and you can use my ingredients so you don't run out your stock."

"But—

"And don't worry about homework, since you'll be helping Rabastan I'll grade you on his improvement"

Severus held his mouth slightly open; he was at a loss of words, rage bubbling underneath him. He finally shook out of shock and was able to speak. "But if Lestrange fails, I fail too!"

"Ah… but he wont fail, because you will be tutoring him"

The bell rang. "Class dismissed!"

Severus was fuming. The nerve of that guy! He walked over to Rabastan reluctantly with a scowl on his face.

"We'll meet here every Sunday afternoon after dinner, no 'if's 'and's or 'but's. I expect you to pay attention and respect me. I don't want to waste my precious time and you better do well or else you'll wind up on the bad side of a curse" he said curtly to the indifferent-looking boy.

"Well someone's touchy this year" Rabastan smirked. "I don't believe I've introduced myself properly to you Snape." Lestrange ran a hand through his blond hair. "My name is Rabastan Lestrange from the Norse Lestranges"

Severus raised an eyebrow. "I'm—

"I know you are; Severus Snape, your mother was Eileen Prince of the Fulham Princes, I'm guessing your father was from the Middle-eastern Snapes. You never talk to anyone except for Black and you used to be friends with that redhead Gryffindor mudblood. If you ask me it was a nice thing you ditched her, people like Evans will only give you a bad reputation… although she is _quite_ the fox. If it weren't for that disgusting blood of hers… I'd totally hit that"

Severus blinked a few times.

"But enough about you. I'm afraid I don't do Sundays; I don't like wasting my weekends. Besides, Sundays are always packed with homework and you probably will want to work those days so we'll meet on Thursday afternoons instead."

Severus wanted to argue but the guy had a point. "Whatever" Severus turned to leave, feeling miffed.

"Hey, Snape!"

Severus turned around.

"I think I like your attitude, join me and Evan some time" with this Lestrange left.

Severus blinked again, thinking what a bother it was going to be tutoring that self-centred idiot.

_To Be Continued…_

A/N- Yay! I'm done! Read and Review! And just because I feel like it... here's a

**_SNEAK PEEK! _**

_"Hey Bellatrix…" Evan said._

_Bellatrix looked his way in annoyance._

_"Did it hurt?" he continued._

_She sighed, "Did what hurt?"_

_"When you fell from the sky, you angel"_

_Bellatrix rolled here eyes. "Nice try… too bad it sucked"_


	27. Chapter 27

**"The Tale of a Broken Man" **

**_By: PsychoHaired_**

_Disclaimer: _I do not own any of this… well except the plot… I guess

A/N- Sorry for the long absence but I was busy moving. But not to worry! I am already moved and ready to go once more! So here is the latest instalment, I hope you enjoy!

_**Chapter 27:**_

"…So then you need to add Boomslang skin before it starts to boil because otherwise it become unstable" Severus finished explaining this week's theory to Rabastan, whom looked as though he was being spoken to in tongues; nodding with his mouth slightly open.

"Did you understand anything I just explained?" Severus inquired irritably.

"Honestly… All I head was blah, blah, blah." Rabastan said, opening and closing his hand like a sock puppet.

Severus pinched the bridge of his long nose and sighed heavily.

"Okay," he paused. "Let's begin with the basics then…" Severus flicked his wand and a cauldron assembled itself in front of him.

"Whoa! You use nonverbal spells?"

"Focus!" he snapped. "I want you to brew a colour changing potion; it's rudimentary but it covers most brewing techniques. Maybe I can spot what's wrong…"

"Ok… you're the boss" Rabastan sighed and began to prepare the potion.

I just a few minutes the room was filled with black smoke. Severus groaned inwardly.

"How it is possible for you to screw up a potion this simple is beyond my comprehension… Thankfully I think I found one of the _many_ problems." Severus then began to explain how you had to prepare ingredients beforehand. That in most potions, you needed to have them prepared because you had to add them at a specific time, and correct timing could make a potion effective; whereas sometimes, even a tiny nanosecond could ruin a potion completely. Once Severus had made sure Rabastan understood this, they cleared up the mess and left.

-o-

Severus sat alone at the dinner table, loading his bowl with broccoli and cheese soup. He sighed; today had been a rough day, even though it was a Saturday. He'd spent most of the day working on a Transfiguration project in the Library, looking for information mostly. Then after that he had practiced some Legilimency (without much success) and felt exhausted afterwards.

Severus had been practising Legilimency for almost a year now and he'd only gotten as far as accessing recent memories from the most dim-witted people. Needless to say, Severus felt extremely frustrated because of this.

"Hey Snape!" Rabastan sat down across from him cheerfully, his best friend Evan Rosier following suit.

"Evening." Severus replied curtly, drinking some grape juice.

"Oh wait! Rabastan, I've got a new one" Evan pulled on Lestrange's sleeve.

Rabastan sighed with amusement as Evan turned to Bellatrix Black.

"Hey Bellatrix…" Evan said.

Bellatrix looked his way in annoyance.

"Did it hurt?" he continued.

She sighed, "Did what hurt?"

"When you fell from the sky, you angel"

Bellatrix rolled here eyes. "Nice try… too bad it sucked"

Evan laughed un-fazed and turned towards Rabastan whom was laughing too. Severus shook his head in aggravation. This was a habit of Rosier's… the buffoon would pretty much hit on anything with a skirt.

"Nice… where'd you pick _that_ one up?" Lestrange laughed.

"My brother used it to pick up some bird in London… And what a bum she had… lucky bloke" Rosier sighed.

Rabastan laughed again then turned to Severus.

"Hey Snape,"

Severus looked up expectantly.

"What's the answer to number twenty three on that worksheet Professor Slughorn gave us?"

"Boomslang"

"Thanks"

"Gasp! Do mine ears deceive me?" Rosier placed a dramatic hand on his forehead.

"No Evan… I **_AM_** doing Homework… you should try it sometime."

"I think I better call Madame Promfey before you start reading Hogwarts: A History!" They both laughed uproariously.

Meanwhile, Narcissa Black strolled past them and Rosier threw her a wolf whistle. "It must be my birthday!" he winked at her.

"Close your mouth, you're salivating all over the table." She glared at him.

"She digs me" he said to no one in particular.

"She digs your grave, more like…" Rabastan remarked.

Severus rolled his eyes.

-o-

Reading a new book on Legilimency, Severus sat cross-legged on one of the green leather armchairs in the Slytherin Common Room. The room itself was fairly empty, save for a few housemates that were studying quietly. The book he was reading was getting really interesting; Severus turned another page but was soon interrupted.

"Hey Severus"

He looked up to find Regulus.

"Oh, hello"

"Legilimency: A Guide of the Human Mind?" he looked up at Severus looking surprised.

Severus nodded.

"You're a Legilimens?" he looked surprised.

"No, not yet" he looked up in slight annoyance.

"But, I mean… can you read minds?"

Severus looked up irritably. "Sometimes, yes"

A few seconds of silence passed as Severus looked back down to read.

"Hey Severus?"

"What?" he snapped.

"Read my mind"

"What? Why?"

"Come on!"

Severus groaned and looked at him straight in the eye.

'…_bloody genius if he can d that at his age' _he heard.

Severus tried to dwell deeper and started seeing brief glances of Regulus's memories in his point of view.

"_Mr. Black! Put those frogs back in their tank!" Professor McGonagall snapped._

The memory changed.

"_Damnit! Not another essay!" Regulus scribbled down a Herbology assignment. _

"_Oi Regulus, what did she say?"_

The memory changed again.

"_Oh! Hello Regulus!" a pair of emerald green eyes met his._

"_Hey Evans!" Regulus waved._

_She smiled at him._

Severus shook his head, his heart pace had quickened slightly; he had not been prepared to see those eyes…

"Whoa, felt kind of like the Sorting Hat I think…" Regulus kept rambling on. Severus wasn't paying much attention. He shook his head slowly, he felt light-headed.

"I need some fresh air…" with this, Severus stood up and left the Common Room.

-o-

"You're being stupid" he muttered to himself. "That bitch used me like an old dish rag" he shook his head furiously. "Stop thinking about her!" he mentally kicked himself.

Severus tripped over his feet and dropped his book. Cursing, he bent over to pick it up but somebody else picked it up for him. When he looked up he met those blasted green eye again and jumped back in surprise, landing on his bottom.

"You're welcome" she said acidly, unceremoniously dropping the book onto his lap without a second glance.

Severus drew his knees up to his chest and groaned. Suddenly; hitting his head against the wall repeatedly seemed like a very appealing thing to do.

In a bad mood, Severus stood up, brushed himself off and kept on walking towards the school grounds. Once outside, he had to put a heating charm on his robes, for it was a surprisingly chilly afternoon for late September.

Severus walked around the lake for a while, thinking… or rather trying NOT to think about Lily Evans. He realized with a twinge of guilt that today was her birthday. He sighed heavily and plopped down on the lake's pier, dismissing the sudden pang of guilt that had overtaken him.

He threw a rock; it skipped three times and sank on the fourth with a _ploop. _Severus briefly thought if he should get her something, then he remembered he was furious with her and even more so with himself for allowing himself to be optimistic. Trusting people always had a painful and disappointing end, he thought. He had been crazy to think Lily could fancy _him_… why would she, when she had Potter drooling all over her. '**_Potter', _**he thought bitterly, of course she'd rather fancy him… with his perfect fucking hair and his small un-hooked nose and his non-greasy appearance.

Severus sighed once again and lied on his back, staring at the pink and orange tinged sky with a scowl. Two birds twittered by, playing joyfully in the air. Severus watched them thoughtfully as the birds flew around each other happily. Suddenly, his view was obscured by a sneering bespectacled boy. Severus made to grab his wand but was kicked forcefully on his side and fell with a _Splash _onto the freezing cold lake. Severus shivered and sputtered as he struggled to get out while Potter laughed heartily, walking away.

"Ass hole!" he yelled after him, paddling back to dry land.

Shivering, Severus broke into a fast sprint to catch up with the creep. "_Stupefy!_" he yelled just as Potter was turning around. Severus sneered viciously with satisfaction as he saw the boy fall on the ground, stiff as a board, staring at him with hatred.

Severus walked up to the stunned body and rolled it on its side with his foot.

"Spineless piece of shit" he snarled. "You're a fucking Son of a Bitch you know that?" Severus kicked his face with satisfaction and walked away, leaving a stunned Potter with a profusely bleeding nose.

Severus shivered a bit, but didn't care much. Suddenly… he was feeling loads better.

_To Be Continued…_

A/N- Yay! I'm finished with this chapter! I hope you liked it!

Here's yet another…

_**SNEAK PEEK!** _

_"You're just a bag of sunshine aren't you?" _

_Severus ignored that comment._

_"Fancy a haircut?" _

REVIEW! Please? I'll consider it a house-warming gift :)


	28. Chapter 28

**"The Tale of a Broken Man" **

_**By: PsychoHaired**_

_Disclaimer: _Not mine, never was mine, never will be mine…

A/N- Here you go! A brand new chapter! And a special thanks to my Mexican friend (he knows who he is) for harassing me into typing it up for you! (Though I doubt it's 10 feet long) Anyways, enjoy!

_**Chapter 28:**_

Students walked on by cheerfully, some were laughing, others were talking, while other seemed to be enjoying the small town of Hogsmeade. Severus was in a foul mood; he had been dragged along here by Regulus, whom was now enjoying the company of a pretty Ravenclaw whose name Severus could not recall. As a result of this, Severus had been sitting on the same bench, sulking for about an hour and thinking up of ways to kill and/or torturing the youngest Black brother.

"What's got you so down?" someone asked in a thick Irish accent.

Severus looked around in confusion and slight annoyance.

"Yes, I'm talking to you" the person laughed.

Severus spotted who was addressing him; a stunning young woman in her early twenties.

"You've been sitting in front of my shop for more than an hour glaring at everyone and scaring away any possible customers."

Severus scowled at her.

"Yeah, just like that" she smirked.

Severus turned away, fuming. Who was this insolent woman!

"Wow, you're just a big bag of sunshine aren't you?"

He ignored her… maybe she'd go away.

"Fancy a haircut?"

Severus looked at her irritably. She pointed to a sign above them that read "_Sam's Haircuts_" and below it a huge banner that read "_GRAND OPENING!_"

"I'm assuming your Sam then?" he finally said, raising his eyebrow.

"Good, I was beginning to think you were mute"

Severus scowled at the woman.

"So, how about that haircut? You look like you need it…" she smirked. "Desperately"

Severus glared at her with indignation.

"No offence mate… but you look like a girl…you ARE a guy aren't you?"

Severus seethed, "Fine! If it will shut you up, give me the bloody haircut!" he shouted.

Sam just smirked and led him into her shop, not once did she seem fazed by Severus's outburst. She sat him down on a chair reclined over a sink. She put a towel over his shoulders and began to wash his hair with lukewarm water and shampoo.

"Wow, your hair is just as greasy as my boyfriend's," she said conversationally, lathering up more shampoo. "You should try washing it everyday, to get the excess out.

Severus suddenly felt offended. But Sam either didn't notice, or didn't care… more likely the latter.

"My boyfriend, Damien; he used to hate his oily hair. Back in school, he looked like such a dork. He was always the loner type… you probably know the kind… quiet, reserved, not many friends, the butt of everyone's jokes…he seemed like the kind of guy who disliked company, or rather, was intimidated by it."

Severus began to feel uncomfortable, not sure if this woman was drawing a parallel to her boyfriend and him on purpose. But again, Sam didn't seem to notice or care.

"One day, me and my friends made a bet and I lost. I had to wash this guy's hair for a month! Mind you, we were complete strangers, completely different social ranks and well… it was extremely hard to get him to agree. The bloke went so far as to cursing me! Can you believe that?"

_I would have cursed you as well_… he thought.

"Well eventually he agreed Merlin knows why…" she laughed. "Anyways, his hair turned out looking gorgeous and in the process I began to fall for him… he was often cruel and temperamental but he was intelligent and sincere…" she smiled vaguely.

Sam towel dried his damp hair (which fell several centimetres past his shoulders) and sat him in a large chair in front of a huge mirror and threw a black sheet over his clothes. "You know… you kind of remind me of him" she commented and began disentangling his hair. " Once his hair was different, everyone began to notice him… including a fairly alarming amount of girls" she finished detangling his hair. "So, what would you like?"

"Er…" Severus had gotten used to her talking so much and was surprised she had asked him a question. "Uh, do whatever you think looks okay…" a slow, inexplicable blush began to rise to his cheeks.

"You don't look like the type who likes short hair… correct?"

He nodded.

"Damien always kept it long too" she took out some scissors from a drawer and began to snip his hair.

Sam kept on talking about her life as Severus listened intently, actually beginning to enjoy her anecdotes.

"…but my mum wanted me to become a healer like her, and her mother, and her mother's mother and so on…" she laughed. "She nearly disowned me when she found out I had applied to Cosmetology School after I graduated Head Girl from Beauxbatons Academy" Severus's confusion must have shown. " My family's Irish… but my parents lived and worked in France… anyways, when I got accepted into Cosmetology School I had a rough time explaining that I didn't want to become a healer." She kept on snipping Severus's hair. "So when I graduated from Cosmetology School I set up this shop" she spritzed his hair to keep it wet. "Do you want bangs?"

Severus shook his head.

"Good choice… bangs wouldn't look good on you" she held her wand in one hand and a brush in another; shooting hot air from her wand, she brushed Severus's hair dry.

"Alright, we're done here… and I was right! You do look a lot like Damien…" she grinned, stroking his hair fondly. "What do you think?"

Severus looked at himself in the mirror, "Thanks, it looks good" he mumbled.

"You look great, I bet you'll get more than just a few looks from the girls, eh?" she laughed.

Severus mumbled something incoherent.

"Thanks for letting me cut your hair er… I didn't get your name."

"Severus"

"Oh! Well, the cut's on the house Sev, you are my first and favourite customer" she laughed.

"I've been your only customer" he smirked.

"Hence you being my favourite" she smirked back. "See you around"

Severus left feeling slightly flattered. He ran his hand through his newly cut hair, noticing it was soft and smooth for the first time in his life.

-o-

After getting his hair cut, Severus went back to the castle around noon and was now reading a muggle book by Edgar Allan Poe. He usually stuck to books on The Dark Arts or Potions, but he had found this in the Dark Arts section while looking for something and decided to read it. Severus was familiar with Edgar Allan Poe's work and in fact was one of his favourite muggle authors. Right now, he was reading one of his short stories, "The Cask of Amontillado". When Severus felt someone sitting at his table. He looked up, puzzled.

"Snape?" Bellatrix gasped in surprise, jumping out of her chair.

"Yes?" he lifted a quizzical eyebrow at her.

"I-I didn't recognize you with um…" she pointed vaguely at his hair.

"Why are you here?

"I-uh… mistook you for someone else… I'm going to…" she trailed off leaving, shooting him occasional glances.

Feeling slightly confused, he decided to take a walk and as he exited the Library, more people (mostly girls) shot him looks of interest, making him feel uncomfortable.

The looks kept on coming his way all through the day and when dinner rolled around and he sat at the Slytherin table, Bellatrix, Narcissa and other girls would glance over his way every so often. To his dismay, Severus want the only one to notice all the looks he was receiving…

"Oi Snape, what the hell did you do that's got every girl looking at you like that?" Rosier asked in annoyance.

"Geez Evan, it's obvious the bloke got a new bloody haircut you idiot. The girls think he looks good."

Evan muttered something under his breath; glaring at Severus when a Ravenclaw girl walked by him.

"If you haven't noticed, I'm still within earshot so will you both stop talking as if I wasn't here?" Severus stabbed his pasta.

"Hey Rabastan, have you seen Snape around?" he sat next to Severus.

"I'm right here"

Regulus turned his head and jumped slightly with a start. "Bloody hell! What the- I didn't recognize you with your hair looking…shiny" he finished lamely as Severus glared at him.

Someone tapped Severus on the shoulder and he turned around to find Bellatrix.

"Hey Snape, the girls and I were talking and we all thing you should keep doing whatever it is you did to your hair… we think it looks cool"

"Er…" he blinked.

"See you later" Bellatrix turned around, tossing back her jet-black hair gracefully, the other girls following suit.

"Bastard…" Evan muttered.

"Still here!" Severus said in annoyance. He then stood up and left, feeling flattered, embarrassed and slightly annoyed. As he walked towards the double doors, he blushed as he noticed a few girls still looking at him.

He wandered the corridors distractedly when suddenly someone crashed into him and both fell down.

"I'm sorry! I was in a hurry and I didn't see— Sev-Snape?"

Severus felt the blood rush to his face and tried to force a scowl at the redhead. Lily frowned slightly. Severus watched as she stood up and left; looking back over her shoulder a few times, face red as her hair. Severus stood up too, an inevitable shadow of a smile crossing his sharp features.

-o-

As soon as he took a shower that night, his hair returned to normal. Severus decided not to heed the Slytherin girls' suggestion. He thought he really didn't like all the attention he had gotten today…though he did enjoy it a bit. Severus crawled into bed wearily, Lily's encounter fresh on his mind and as a result had a restless sleep filled with sparkling green eyes meeting his.

-o-

Severus pinched the bridge of his nose in silent frustration. Once again, the dungeon classroom ha and Rabastan were using for their tutoring sessions was filled with smoke and was covered with some unidentifiable gunk all over the walls. In the middle of the room stood a charcoal covered Lestrange glaring at his rendition of infusion of wormwood.

"What did I do wrong this time? I followed all the instructions, I had everything prepared, I double-checked the steps! What the ruddy hell did I do wrong?" Lestrange was on the verge of pulling out his soot covered blond locks.

"You stirred _counter_ clockwise and destabilized the potion." Severus said carefully, trying hard not to insult the furious looking bloke in front of him.

"Argh! Bloody fucking potion! What is the fucking point of stirring it in one direction? What difference does it make?" Lestrange kicked his cauldron and yelped in pain. "Bloody Iron piece of junk!"

Severus sighed "_Evanesco" _and all the mess slowly disappeared. "Try it again"

Lestrange shot him a death-glare before gathering up his ingredients for the third part that session. Severus sat once again on a stool to survey the work.

Finally, Lestrange sauntered off towards Severus with a vial filled with murky green potion. Severus examined it.

"Hmm… you added the Lily root too soon and the asphodel too late. The consistency is off and so is the colour, which means you let is boil too long and simmer too little, plus the topmost of the potion was ruined further by condensed water. Oh, did I ever tell you not to bottle up hot potion? Well, at least you didn't burn anything this time, so you _are_ improving…however slowly it may be." he added as an afterthought. "We're done for the day."

Rabastan was positively fuming, but did not utter a word as Severus left the classroom towards the Library.

-o-

The classroom was filled with the aroma of gardenias and roses, two unusual ingredients in a more unusual potion Professor Slughorn had assigned them to concoct. It was a recent discovery of their Professor's and was supposed to be some sort of comforting elixir for the sick. It didn't cure anything, but it was supposed to give the ailed person feel the warmth and comfort similar to that of a loved one.

Severus found this potion intriguing; for it had a variety of unusual ingredients such as garden flowers, milk chocolate, unicorn hair, fairy dust, vast quantities of sugar and cannabis. The last one of which had a powerful security charm on them so students wouldn't sneak them out of the classroom. The finished product was a smooth, creamy, light-blue substance with a sweet taste. The most fascinating part of this potion however, was the sense of relaxation one got while making it. It was in this stage of the potion that most students were in when Professor Slughorn broke the dreamy silence.

"Excuse me Mr. Potter?"

James looked up with a vacant, happy expression on his face.

"Where is your friend Mr. Remus Lupin? I haven't seen him in days…"

"He's sick sir" Potter replied, seeming a bit more away now.

"Again? Poor lad…what is it this time?"

"Stomach virus"

Professor Slughorn visibly cringed. "Very well… send him my best wishes"

"Yes Professor"

Severus stirred his potion lazily, wondering why that Lupin boy was always sick. He always seemed tired and frail…maybe he had a weak immune system. There should be a potion for that, he thought, then people wouldn't get sick so sick all of the time.

The bell rang, shaking everyone out of their mellow state. Severus corked a few vials of the stuff and stuffed them in his bag.

"Oh Severus, Lily; may I have a word?" Professor Slughorn asked as the students left.

Severus walked up to his desk, followed by Lily.

"I'm hosting another Slug Club party next week that I do hope you both attend. You see, and old friend, Edmund Chierkovski has agreed to go. He is the head of the Potions Research Department in St. Mungo's and he might be looking for potential interns… Now I know you are probably to young for an internship but it never hurts to make a good impression, eh?" Professor Slughorn grinned. "Also, an old student of mine will be dropping by, Mr. Andrew McCormack, though he's better known as Newrad Cormack" he paused as Lily gasped. "The lead singer for The Bones, I believe you've heard of them?" Anyways, It'll be on Saturday after dinner, feel free to bring a friend.

"Thanks Professor! I'll be sure to attend!" Lily grinned.

"Potions Research Internship… sounds interesting" Severus mused more to himself than anyone else.

"Wonderful! Then I expect you both there!" with that, Professor Slughorn began to clear away his things, a signal for them to leave.

-o-

"Hey Severus!" Regulus called, catching up to him in the hallway.

"Hello"

"Where are you going?"

"Library"

"Again?"

"I've got work to do"

"It's a Friday!"

"So?"

"So you have all weekend to do your work, meanwhile, the guys and I organized an afternoon game of Quidditch and we're one player short!"

"I knew you were after something…" Severus shook his head. "Regulus you know I told you I didn't want to play ruddy Quidditch"

"No, you said you didn't want to join the team"

"Same shit" he shrugged.

"And you tell _me_ to watch my tongue…" he mumbled.

Severus raised an eyebrow at him. "Why are you even trying?"

"Because everyone else is busy"

"Glad to see I'm your last resort…" Severus rolled his eyes.

"I'll take that as a yes" Regulus jotted down his name on a list.

"Hey I never agreed!"

"You implied it… same shit"

Severus glared at him.

"The game is at six, you are the seeker, we are playing against Macnair and his buddies."

"I can't believe you're dragging me into this."

"_You_ my friend, need to loosen up" he smirked. "Otherwise you'll end up cooped up in a mouldy corner reading _Hogwarts: A History_ in your spare time"

"Why does everyone assume I've read that book?" Severus shook his head.

"Quintessential book for the quintessential nerd."

"Watch it" he warned.

"No offence. I know better than to provoke you…lest I want to spend the rest of my days with a beech tree lodged up my nose or something…"

Severus laughed.

_To Be Continued…_

A/N- Well this is as far as I have on my notebook, so I kindly hope you guys give me a few weeks to write a few chapters by hand so I can type them… So obviously (and sadly) no sneak peeks this time… though you can maybe expect Severus playing a little Quidditch game with the guys… I dunno… I haven't written anything yet. And to my Mexican friend… I didn't hit the 10ft. marc but this is nine pages long so that's 99 inches which is (gets calculator) 8 1/4 feet!


	29. Chapter 29

**"The Tale of a Broken Man" **

**By: PsychoHaired**

_Disclaimer: _Sadly… still not mine

A/N- So, I was into a bit of a writer's block for this one and had only written about six pages on my notebook when all of a sudden my muse tackled and strangled me into writing six more pages! So, without much further ado…your new chapter! Enjoy!

**Chapter 29:**

It was fifteen minutes before the dreaded game and Severus was hiding behind a dusty bookshelf, his face completely hidden behind a rather large book. He thought that maybe, if Regulus couldn't find him, then he would just have to look for another player to replace him.

He looked at his watch with triumph; he was almost off the hook…

"Aha! How clever Severus; hide so you won't have to play"

Severus looked up irritably from his book.

"Thank Merlin you his in the most _obvious_ place…" Regulus smirked. "Now, come on"

"Regulus, no! I won't play!"

"You will too"

Severus crossed his arms. "And what, pray tell, makes you think that I'll actually go through with this?"

"Oh… I dunno" Regulus grinned. "Maybe because it just so happens that I stumbled across a very interesting item under your four-poster bed" He smirked, producing a shoebox from behind him.

Severus 's smirk fell; that was his box of letters.

"One game… then you can get it back"

Severus glared and took out his wand.

"_Accio _wand" Regulus smirked yet again.

Severus glared at Regulus. "I loathe you," he muttered.

"Love you too" Regulus tucked Severus's wand in his pocket and laughed, dragging a very reluctant Severus outside.

Once they reached the pitch, Regulus took out Severus's wand again. "If I give this back, do you promise to hex my bits off?"

Severus snatched it from him and stuck it in his pocket, reaching the other guys who would be playing.

"Sheesh Regulus, make us wait three hours why don't you?" Macnair said.

"Relax, I was just fetching our seeker." He nodded towards Severus.

"Snape?" Macnair raised an eyebrow sceptically. "I didn't know you played Quidditch"

"I don't," he muttered angrily, glaring at Regulus.

"Is everyone here?" Rosier asked, counting heads. "Okay. So, Rabastan, Snape, Bella and I are all on Regulus's team"

"Right, and Avery, Doge, Conan and Watson are all on mine" Macnair finished.

With this, everyone mounted their broomsticks and sped off. Reluctantly, Severus followed suit, thinking the sooner he or Macnair caught the snitch, the sooner he could go back to the castle and do his weekend homework. He sighed in aggravation, circling the pitch looking for that blasted thing while his teammates battled each other like Neanderthals for the ruddy Quaffle.

How was he supposed to find the thing anyways? It was roughly the size of a walnut and averaged the speed of a muggle car on a highway. The probability of finding it was possibly more than a million to one. Severus kept on flying around the pitch, narrowly avoiding a bludger to the head twice and grasping the broom for dear life after Conan, a burly Ravenclaw 5th year, rammed into him trying to catch the Quaffle. Severus looked at the stands; a few of the students had shown up to watch the game. He turned to fly in the other direction, hoping to end this ridiculous game.

Growing incredibly frustrated at his lack of progress, Severus focused on the few students sitting on the stands, watching the game in amusement. More people were present now; Severus briefly thought that it was probably because they had nothing better to do. He gave another lap around the field and nearly fell off his broomstick in surprise when a flash of red hair caught his eye. _Lily Evans_ was watching the game, sitting amongst a group of giggling Ravenclaws on the first row. _'That damn girl is everywhere today!'_ he thought; Severus stared at her for a second or two until something shiny distracted him away from her. There it was… that stupid snitch, hovering about seven metres from where Lily was sitting.

He darted for it with a smirk of triumph, getting closer by the second. Macnair, he noticed, had darted behind him and was now very close behind him. Severus however, had an advantage, as he was much closer to the snitch. He let go of his broomstick and outstretched both his arms, trying to reach it. Suddenly, his broom jerked to a stop, Macnair had grabbed the end of his broomstick. He kept flying forward, crashed onto the stands and was knocked senseless for a few seconds.

When he came to, he realized two things: One, a cold metal ball was struggling to free itself from his grasp and two, he was lying on top of something soft and whimpering. He looked down and stood up quickly, cheeks blazing, head throbbing; Lily was sprawled on the floor, face twisted in agony and her right arm bent at an odd angle.

Meanwhile, Regulus had flown over with the rest of the team to congratulate him. Severus didn't really acknowledge them and instead took out his wand and muttered a healing spell on the redhead's arm.

She looked at him with a combination of confusion, relief, anger, pain, shock and gratitude. The girls that were giggling with her just a few seconds ago were asking her if she was okay, but she kept staring at Severus with her mouth slightly open in surprise. Wordlessly, Severus stood back up, shoved the fluttering snitch into Regulus's hand and left. '_Quidditch was a stupid game…_'he thought.

-O-

It was getting dark outside; Severus was in an empty potions classroom, brewing a simple potion used to clean tough stains. Brewing always seemed to calm him and right now, Severus's fists were shaking with anger. Not only did his best friend blackmail him into playing a game he despised, but he also crashed into his former-best-friend-now-enemy-yet-still-gets-butterflies-in-his-stomach-when-hes-sees-her, broke her arm, then fixed said arm in front of a group of mudblood hating Slytherins and left without saying a word.

He hadn't felt such a rush of opposite emotions in such a short time. Impatience, hope, triumph, hope, surprise, embarrassment, anger, guilt and dread, all in less than one minute had to be a record. To make his mood worse, Severus noticed in disdain that he had just added the wrong ingredient to the potion and realized a second too late that this would cause a small explosion and thus was covered in pine-scented blue goo.

He wiped the gunk from his eyes with his sleeve, hearing it splat on the stone floor. Just then, the door opened; Severus blushed underneath the blue goo when Lily stepped through it, looking surprised.

"Oh, er… Sev- I mean… Snape. I um, I was looking for you" she said, almost slipping on the mess.

His heart fluttered rapidly. He tried to sound cool and collected, "What do you want?" he snapped, though his voice squeaked a bit and he mentally kicked himself.

"I just," she paused, stepping over some more goo to get closer. "I wanted to thank you for…" she trailed off, nodding at her right arm.

Severus said nothing, forced a scowl at her and scoffed.

"Look," she began, stepping in front of him and placing her hands on her hips " What did I do to you?" she poked his chest. "Why are you such a jerk to me now?"

He stood in silence, not looking away from her angry eyes.

"Is it because I'm a Gryffindor? Because I'm a muggleborn? Huh?" she threw her hands in the air. "Because I don't recall ever doing anything to you! Are you scared of what your new '_friends'_ will think? Are you such a hypocrite? Are you ashamed? What is it?" she was near tears in frustration. "That's it isn't it?"

"No!" He yelled at her, even though she was just a few feet from him.

"Then what is it Snape?" she stepped closer. "Because frankly, it's driving me insane!" she yelled.

"Why do you even care?" he yelled back at her.

"Because you were my friend! Because I care about you Snape! I deserve to know!"

"Liar"

"Excuse me?"

"You're a liar!" he yelled at her again. "You don't care about me! You don't give a damn about me at all! You used me!"

"What?" she was taken aback at his outburst.

"Get out!" he pointed at the door.

"No!" she stepped closer to him, about a foot from his face.

"Lily, get out!"

"I won't!"

He took out his wand and held it at his side. "I don't want to curse you," he muttered.

She stepped closer and leaned into him, looking sad. "You're wrong Severus" she whispered in his ear. Severus stiffened. "I _do_ care about you, but you have to learn to trust people" she stepped back with a solemn look on her face, turned around and left the room, leaving Severus with a dull ache of longing in his chest…

_To Be Continued…_

A/N- Will proceed to write Chapter 30 :) Review!


	30. Chapter 30

**"The Tale of a Broken Man" **

_**By: PsychoHaired**_

_Disclaimer: _If it were mine, it certainly wouldn't be posted here…

A/N- I believe I have just written my longest chapter yet! Again, sorry for the delay, after this chapter, the story will be on hiatus until I write at least two more chapters in advance. I don't know how long this will take me but I am not abandoning this yet (and don't plan to…) I will start college in about two weeks so I don't think I'll be updating as frequently (If you could call this frequent). Ahem… So without much further ado, the latest instalment in this wondrous –cough- story… Enjoy!

_**Chapter 30:**_

It was late at night and Severus was finding it impossible to sleep. Lily's words echoed in his mind… "**You're wrong…" '**_I was wrong?'_ he thought. **_"I _do _care about you…" _**_she was lying… wasn't she? **"…learn to trust people" **If I trust you… you'll hurt me. _He tossed in his bed, finding a more comfortable position. _**"…care about you" **No you don't! **"I **_**do_ care about you…" _**he felt incredibly and vastly alone. **_"Trust people…" _**his head was swimming. **"_It's driving me insane" _**_'Me too…' _He rolled over to his side with a headache. **_"Care about you…" _**He felt diminutively tiny, microscopically unimportant. **_"…driving me insane" _**He rolled over. **_"Trust people" _**He yanked the curtains open. **_"Care about you…" _**He reached the inside of his bag. **_"Trust people…" _**He pulled out a small flask with light blue potion swirling inside it. **_"You're wrong… I DO care about you" _**"I wish I could believe you…" he muttered and downed the contents in one gulp. He staggered to bed and collapsed into a blissful sleep.

_He opened his eyes to find Lily smiling amusedly over him._

"_Morning sleeping beauty" she chuckled._

"_Huh? What are you doing here?" he sat bolt upright and looked around. "Where is here?" he said slowly. _

"_It doesn't matter… what's important is that we are here" she leaned her head on his shoulder._

"_But that still doesn't answer my question…" he said uneasily, watching Lily pick up his hand. "Where is here?"_

"_Look around… I think you're smart enough to figure it out"_

_Severus looked around, but all he could see was white sand, stretching for miles and miles around them._

"_Are we in the desert?" _

"_Yes… and no" she laughed in amusement as Severus looked on in confusion._

"_How can this be a desert and… not be a desert" he said nervously, Lily laughed as she stroked his palm with her thumb._

_She looked pensive for a moment and then spoke. " This is whatever you make of it"_

"_What?"_

"_Geez do I have to spell it out for you?" she laughed, shoving him playfully onto the sand. "You're dreaming," she paused, "and I'm here to keep you company"_

"…_Oh"_

_She traced lines in the sand._

"_Why?"_

_She sighed. "Think about it for a second…"_

"_Okay…" _

_She looked pointedly at him._

"_Oh! The potion!"_

"_We have a winner…" she laughed and rested her head on his shoulder again._

_Severus traced lines in the sand with unease._

"_You know, I would have thought you'd think of something more interesting…"_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_Well… you have absolute power over this 'world', so to speak… and all you can do is sit in the middle of the desert holding my hand?"_

_He blushed at her last comment and let go quickly._

"_Look Severus," she sat in front of him, "I don't think you're grasping the situation at hand." She got closer. "You have complete and limitless power… you can do **anything** right at this moment and face no consequences" _

"_No consequences?"_

"_None whatsoever"_

_He grabbed her hand again and she sighed in exasperation. _

"_Are you going to spend your 90 minutes of REM sleep in the middle of the desert with me?"_

"_Oh! Um… no" he paused. "Where do you want to go?"_

"_It's **your** dream"_

_He closed his eyes and concentrated; when he opened them again they were standing in the middle of a busy street in what appeared to be an ancient city._

"_So where are we now?" Lily stood up, brushing sand off her white toga._

"_Ancient Greece"_

"_Hmm… creative" she grinned._

_They wandered the streets together, looking at different vending carts and shops. They stopped at a cart that sold glowing silver spheres. When Severus asked what they were, the old woman who was selling them replied they told the future. They stopped at a shop that sold different spinning trinkets that made whistling sounds when you toughed them, and a cart that sold purple oranges. _

"_Oh wow! Severus, look at these!" Lily said delightedly._

"_What are these things?" he asked._

"_They, young man, are muses"_

_Severus looked up and started in surprise. "Professor Dumbledore?"_

"_Professor who?" Dumbledore said._

"_But you—_

"_I assure you, I am but a simple muse vendor" Dumbledore winked._

"_Oh Severus can you get me one?" _

"_I don't have any money"  
_

"_Oh, I think you do…" Lily said._

_Severus checked inside his toga pocket (he then realized he was too wearing a toga) and pulled out some golden coins in surprise._

"_Ah… it seems Pooky has taken a liking to you miss" _

_Lily laughed as a small fury blue thing with bunny ears made a nest for itself in her hair._

"_We'll take that one then" Severus handed Dumbledore the gold._

_Severus turned to leave but Dumbledore grabbed his arm._

"_Don't loose her" he said in a low whisper._

"_What?"_

"_You can save her if you let her save you" Dumbledore said grimly._

"_What do you mean?"_

_Dumbledore turned around and pushed his cart away._

"_Hey! Wait —_

"_Severus come on!"_

_Severus looked at Lily, and then looked back…but he was gone._

_Lily grabbed his hand. "Let's go somewhere else" she smiled._

"_Um… okay" He closed his eyes._

When he opened them again he was at Hogwarts again, lying on his bead, light bleeding through his bed hangings. Severus looked around quizzically. "Lily?" he whispered, sitting up blearily, rubbed his eyes and scratched his head. _'It was a dream…' _he thought with a bit of disappointment. Severus opened his bed curtains and stepped onto the cold stone floor, remembering his dream. He'd never had a dream where he was actually in control of what happened…

He had read about these in old divination books; they were called "God Dreams". They were supposed to be extremely rare, and in most God Dreams, the control was only partial. It was believed that whoever received the gift of this so-called God Dream, was receiving both a blessing and a curse. A blessing, for man tasted divine glory, and yet a curse for he never tasted it again.

Severus shook his head; _'was it really because of the potion I drank?'_ He thought while he brushed his teeth. Still… it was the best night's sleep he'd had since his mum passed away…

Soon his roommates began to wake.

"Damn" Montague grunted. "Why are you always up before us?" He rubbed his eyes wearily.

Severus shrugged and threw his robe on.

"You look like you're in a good mood" Montague commented grimly.

"Good dream" he shrugged again.

"Oi, I did NOT need that image in my head this early in the morning" Rosier mumbled, slamming the bathroom door closed and waking up the others.

Severus climbed upstairs towards the Slytherin common room. It looked empty when he reached the top step but found out he was wrong when Bellatrix poked her head out from behind a couch.

" I was waiting for you," she stated impatiently.

Severus looked around; no one was there so she _must_ be addressing him.

"Yes, I mean _you_ Snape" she clicked her tongue.

"What do you want?" he raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "I'm not doing your homework"

She laughed coldly "Don't be daft, Evan did it for me"

'_Figures…' _he thought.

"I was actually waiting to ask you something" her tone changed.

"Was is it?" he snapped.

"Do you have a date for the Slug Club Party tomorrow?"

Severus was left speechless for a second; he was NOT expecting this question to be thrown at him.

"It's not like I fancy you or anything" she quickly added. "I just want to meet Newrad Cormack from The Bones, I heard he was going"

Severus crossed his arms.

"Look, do you have a date or not?" she asked in annoyance, as if he were the one speaking nonsense.

Severus opened his mouth to tell her it was none of her ruddy business but was cut off again.

"Well now you have one. You are to meet me here at six thirty sharp, wash your hair and wear these" she tossed him a bundle of clothing.

Severus gaped as she left without another word. _'…What the hell had just happened?'_ he thought, looking at the finely made trousers and button-down shirt in annoyance (noticing with even more annoyance that they were the correct size).

He marched back downstairs, to dump the clothes on his bed.

"Snape? I thought you left already" Evan said when he saw him coming in.

"Yeah well I just found out that Bellatrix wants me to not only take her on a date but wear these damn clothes too" he threw the clothes unceremoniously onto his bed.

"You… a date… with _Bellatrix Black_?" Evan looked outraged.

"Yes, a date. You know… when two people, generally of the opposite sex, get together and go out?"

"You mean to tell me that you asked _Bellatrix Black_ on a date and she said yes?" he seemed borderline insane.

"If by that you mean she demanded I take her tomorrow… then yes" with this, he left the room, feeling slightly… odd.

-O-

Severus was fed up, ever since he mentioned the so called "date" with Bellatrix, Rosier had been pestering him endlessly, shooting him envious looks and glaring daggers at him all through the day. Sitting at the Slytherin table for dinner, Severus cracked.

"Damnit Evan, shut the hell up already!" he snapped irritably at the boy whom was making snide remarks.

"Come over here and make me _Sevvie_" he spat.

Severus stood up abruptly and pointed his wand threateningly between Evan's eyes, whom winced and let out a small yelp.

" Gone and soiled yourself? …Coward" he sat back down calmly.

Evan glared at him. Severus glanced over to where Bellatrix was sitting; she looked very smug about something. Her girlfriends were talking excitedly about something and kept looking over where he, Evan, Rabastan and Regulus were sitting.

"So… Severus" Regulus piped up as if nothing had happened. ""You're actually taking my evil cousin on a date?"

Severus nodded irritably.

"Whatever you do… don't upset her"

"What, like you care about her all of a sudden?"

"No it's not that… she can just do a lot of damage when she's upset" Regulus cringed involuntarily. "One time when we were kids, Siri— my brother and I played a prank on her and she was so pissed off she cracked my skull open"

"Shit, duly noted" Severus blinked.

"She's a right nasty piece of work mate… I kind of feel sorry for you"

"Thanks" he rolled his eyes.

"Wait a minute…" Rabastan spoke up. "How exactly did she manage to crack your skull open?"

"She used a curse that rammed me into the wall"

"But I thought you said you guys were kids when that happened"

"Little kids can't always control their powers…"

"Shit…" Rabastan cringed.

"I know…" Regulus nodded.

"Oi, Severus"

Severus turned to Rabastan.

"You DO know she's probably using you to meet that singer guy right?"

"Most likely… yes"

"Then why' you agree to it?'

"A scorned woman… specially one like _her_ is a fate worse than death"

"He's right you know…" Regulus said laughing.

-o-

Severus stepped out of the shower. He looked into the foggy mirror, which berated him for not combing his hair.

"Oh stuff it before I break you" he muttered in annoyance, grabbing a comb as he stepped out onto his dorm.

He threw his trunk open and pulled on the pants Bellatrix had demanded him to wear. Severus zipped them up with annoyance as he noticed they were tailored to his exact measurements. He then put on the shirt, which was also tailored specifically for him. He briefly wondered how the hell she knew this information but shook his head… he probably didn't want to know anyways. Severus slipped on his socks and shoes and looked at himself in the full-length mirror. He was sporting dark grey trousers and a dark green long-sleeved button-down shirt with silver cufflinks.

"There's no doubt I'm a Slytherin" he muttered.

"You look great! No give us all a big smile!" the mirror chirped. Severus ignored it and went upstairs to the Slytherin Common Room to meet Bellatrix; it was already six thirty.

When he got upstairs, Bellatrix was already there, looking impeccable.

"Finally! I was waiting a full three minutes"

"You said six thirty!"

"Yes and according to my watch it's six thirty-three"

Severus rolled his eyes. "The party doesn't even start for another hour"

"I know"

"So why meet you here an hour early when Slughorn's office is five minutes away?"

"Because I wanted to have time to fix your hair" she said this like it was the most obvious thing in the world and he was an imbecile not to know this _obvious_ fact.

"What?" he asked in outrage.

"You heard me, now sit down!" she pointed at the armchair next to him. "Now…" she added warningly.

Severus glared but flopped down on the couch when she saw she had her wand out already. As soon as his bottom touched the green leather armchair however, silver ropes snaked around his wrists, torso, legs and ankles binding him to it.

"What the— What the hell do you think you're doing?" he struggled.

"I'm fixing your hair"

"Why?"

"Because it looks like a dirty mop!"

"Thanks…" he muttered acidly.

Bellatrix ignored him however and began to spritz hi hair with water. Then she took out a round brush and began to work her way through his mess or black hair while hot air shot out of her wand.

When the ropes finally released him, it was seven fifteen. Severus glared at her while he rubbed his sore wrists gingerly.

"Oh stop it, you look decent now"

Severus cursed her existence under his breath.

"I heard that!" she grabbed his wrist roughly and pulled him out of the Slytherin Common Room.

-o-

When Severus and Bellatrix arrived, the room was packed with students and a catchy tune was playing in the background. As soon as they came in, Professor Slughorn made his way towards them beaming.

"Ah! Severus m'boy! Looking good!" he beamed. " I see you brought Ms. Black as your date. How are you?" he addressed her, albeit with a bit of surprise.

"Very well sir. I heard that Newrad Cormack was going to attend, has he arrived yet?"

"No, not yet. He owled me this afternoon asking if I would mind if his band gave an impromptu 'gig' here around eight thirty and I told him it was no trouble at all… the more the merrier eh?"

Slughorn turned towards Severus. "So Severus, Edmund Chierkovski hasn't arrived yet either but when he does be sure to chat with him" Slughorn winked. "Now if you both excuse me I must greet lovely Miss Evans and Lupin who've just arrived"

Severus turned around and spotted her, she looked back at him and smiled, albeit in an awkward way. Just then, Bellatrix grabbed his wrist again and yanked him towards a group of people. She soon started up a conversation with recently graduated Lucius Malfoy, chatting away about her summers in a French Château and her winters in Aspen. Severus grew bored quickly and tuned out of their conversation, and instead focused his attention on the other people at Slughorn's shindig. He was quite surprised at how many people were currently present, there had to be nearly sixty to seventy people chatting away, laughing and dancing and it was still very early. Slughorn must have performed an enlargement spell on his office because Severus was certain that several dozen people could not possibly fit comfortably in here.

"…isn't that right Severus?"

"Huh?" he looked at an expectant looking Bellatrix. "Oh… er, yes"

"Anyways…"

Severus spotted Lily again who was laughing at something that Lupin boy had said when he was suddenly dragged around the room by his wrist yet again. Severus felt like a show dog being paraded around a place. He began to wonder why Bellatrix even bothered. He'd just supposed she would ditch him as soon as they walked through the doors but this was clearly not the case for she kept dragging him all over the place as if she were showing him off. Plus he was getting those weird looks again from the girls there, which was unnerving him.

"Hey Snape" Bellatrix turned to him.

"Yeah?'

"Go get me some punch"

"What am I your manservant?"

"You'll be a manservant with his bits hexed off if I don't get my punch soon" she smiled sweetly.

Severus turned around in annoyance, _'Whatever… anything to get rid of her' _he thought cynically. He walked over to the punchbowl and began to fill a cup.

"Oh, hi Snape"

He turned to look at who was addressing him and dropped his glass, spilling punch all over the table.

Lily laughed and cleared the mess up with her wand. "Wow, you look great" she said awkwardly.

His heart pounded alarmingly fast and nodded curtly "…as do you" he mumbled.

They stood there for a few seconds and Lily broke the silence again. "Hey, did you get a chance to talk to Chierkovski yet?"

"No I haven't" he relaxed a bit. "My date's been literally dragging me around the whole place" he rolled his eyes.

"Oh… whom did you come with?"

Suddenly Severus did not want to be here and instead focused on a very interesting potato crisp crumb on the edge of the snack table.

"Miss Evans! Severus!" Slughorn appeared out of nowhere.

"Ah Professor…" he sighed in relief.

"Edmund, I'd like to introduce you to two of my best pupils, Miss Lily Evans and Mr. Severus Snape." Slughorn beamed proudly at the two.

"Nice to meet you sir" Lily grinned.

"Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you" Severus said when he shook his hand.

"Horace has been talking none stop about you two, are you really as good as he says you are?"

Lily replied with a cheeky comment that made Chierkovski laugh. After a few minutes, the three were immersed in a heated Neo-Classical Potions debate.

"…But then again it had it's roots with alchemy" Severus paused.

"True, but you have to remember that alchemists back then weren't familiar with Archimedes's Law of Proportions" Lily commented.

"Oh yes, very well put" Chierkovski nodded.

"Yes, but even so; back then they believed that lunar equations and star charts were crucial in the Draught of Hades"

"Yes, you're right" she said thoughtfully.

"Pardon the interruption" Slughorn appeared from behind Chierkovski. " Edmund, I'd like you to see this new potion I've just discovered, I daresay its side-effects are astounding!"

"Oh! Yes, yes of course. It was nice meeting both of you" he excused himself and joined Slughorn.

"I didn't know you knew about Neo-Classical Potions" Severus laughed.

"I was bored, so I picked up a few books on them" she looked around. "By the way— Lily began but was cut off.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Slughorn's voice boomed over the chatter. "May I present some special guests… The Bones!" The room exploded with cheers and applause as a guitar riff started, followed by a bass guitar, drums and the bagpipes.

A crowd quickly formed all around them.

"What?" Severus yelled over the loud music and cheering.

Lily yelled something back but Severus couldn't make out any of it. Suddenly he was yanked by the wrist to become face to face with Bellatrix.

"I was looking for you!" She yelled over the noise.

"Sorry! I was talking to Edmund Chierkovski!"

"What!"

"I said I was—

"Never mind! Come on, I love this song!"

Severus looked around for Lily but she was lost in the horde of jumping teenagers.

The band began playing one of their hits and the place went wild. Severus pushed through the crowd, trying to escape the sense of claustrophobia. At first he tried to get through politely but now he was pushing and shoving his way out. After three songs he finally reached the outer limits of the solid mass of bodies and breathed heavily.

"Finally!" he panted heavily, wiping the sweat off his forehead.

"Hey!"

Severus looked up. "Hi" he panted again.

Lily laughed. "I didn't know this place would turn into a impromptu concert"

Severus panted a bit more, walking over to her to hear her better.

"I see you came with Bellatrix Black" she commented over the loud music.

"Uh yeah… she kind of forced herself on me more like"

"What?"

"Never mind" he said quickly "What were you saying before?"

She looked away. "Oh um, I don't know I forgot… Remus asked me to dance after I lost sight of you" she changed the subject.

Severus looked away awkwardly. "Where is he now?"

"I don't know… lost in the crowd somewhere. Poor bloke looked a bit sick today though…" she mused.

Severus stood in silence, looking at his feet.

"Hey Severus!" Lily tugged on his sleeve.

"What?"

"Do you want to dance?"

"Do I want what?"

"Dance!"

"I— but before he could say he didn't know how, Lily had dragged him into the huge crowd again. Severus watched awkwardly as Lily moved and jumped about to the music. He looked around uneasily, not sure of what to do.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I don't know how…" he mumbled while being pushed about by other dancing students.

"What?" she stepped closer to listen.

"I don't know how" he looked for a hole he could squeeze through but Lily grabbed his sleeve.

"Don't worry! It's Easy! Just kind of jump a bit… like this!"

"No!" he blushed.

"Come on!" she said tugging on his sleeve.

"No, I don't want to!" someone pushed him and he bumped into her.

"Why not?"

"Because—

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Thank you all for coming here tonight. This is our last song for the night, so grab that special someone…" Newrad Cormack broke into song. "_And dance the night away…" _all the girls started screaming as the band struck up a slow song. Lily grabbed Severus's hands and placed them on her waist, she then placed her own hands on Severus's shoulders. He looked down at his feet frozen, hiding his face behind his hair.

"This one's easy" she said.

Severus gurgled something incoherent.

"Just sway"

"Sway?"

She began to rock from side to side; Severus followed her lead hesitantly.

"That's it" she said, "That's all there is to it"

Severus hid his face behind his hair again, his pulse as fast as it never was before. Before he knew it, the song ended, the party was over, and everyone left. He knew things with Lily weren't back to the way they were before… and probably never would but they were on the right track, he thought. Maybe… just maybe she'd been telling the truth, he thought hopefully, maybe she did care for him, maybe a little bit… this thought alone was enough to make him lie on his bed with the biggest smile he'd ever had and drift off to sleep, still wearing the dark green button-down shirt and heart still pounding like the flutter of a hummingbird's wings.

_To Be Continued…_

A/N- R&R people:)


	31. Chapter 31

**The Tale of a Broken Man **

_**By: PsychoHaired**_

_Disclaimer: _Not mine yet… sadly.

A/N- I finally have the sense to sit down and type this up! So, one of my reviewers told me that once I started University it would be hard for me to keep writing. She/he was partially right; it's been super easy to keep writing this, in fact I've been hit with a sudden rush of inspiration that'll change my original outline for the better (of course this means rewriting some future scenes that I'd established before…) however as you've noticed it's been hard for me to keep updating… I should just scan what I write and let you guys decipher my scribblings. By the way, if anyone's wondering on what they're playing at the beginning of this it's a very competitive game called "May I?" which is similar to Rummy. I'd gladly write the rules down for anyone interested in playing (but sadly I have no time at the moment!), I warn you though… the game is addictive and can turn pretty nasty if you're really into it! Now, without much further ado… my latest chapter! Enjoy!

**Chapter 31:**

Cold sweat ran down Severus's forehead as he furrowed his eyebrows in concentration. His stomach churned uncomfortably with hope… his eyes shone with triumph as he yelled at the top of his lungs….

"MAY I!!!" he planted hi sweaty hand firmly on a three of hearts.

"Hmm…" Regulus looked at his hand with glee, an evil grin spreading across his face. "Absolutely…" Severus began to take the card but Regulus slapped his hand away. "Not!"

"Damn it Regulus!" Severus glared at his friend while the others laughed.

"Is it my turn?" Evan asked.

"Yes" Severus replied sourly.

Rosier drew a card and grinned. "Finally!" he rearranged his hand and set them on the floor, one strait, and a pair of trios. He then discarded a three of spades. Severus shot his hand towards it yelling 'May I!' once again.

Montague grinned sheepishly. "Fine, I don't need it"

"Yes!" Severus picked up the card along with a penalty one.

Montague then drew a card from the deck, laughed heartily, set down his hand and discarded some of his cards onto Regulus and Evan's lower hands, he finally discarded his last card on the discard pile, laughing like a maniac.

"Damnit!" Severus growled. "I never win this hand!" he growled. "I was going to win next turn!"

"But you didn't!" he laughed.

Severus counted his points with a sour expression on his face.

"Fifteen" Regulus said.

"Five"

"Ninety-five" he growled.

Regulus jotted down the score while Montague shuffled the cards. "So," Rosier began casually. "How'd your _date_ with Bellatrix go?" a hint of acid emerged in his tone.

"It was a nightmare," Severus stated matter-of-factly. "First, she tied me up to a chair and did my hair…" he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Then she dragged me all over the place like some show dog… it was annoying as hell" he picked up the cards Montague was dealing around. Evan clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"Seriously Evan; what the hell do you like about my cousin? … She's evil!" Regulus laughed.

"But she's hot!"

"I agree" Montague piped up, "Though I wish she didn't talk…. I had her as a potions partner last week and all she could talk about was about some random singer from some crap band."

"Whose turn is it?" Evan asked.

"Mine" Severus said, flipping the card on top of the deck.

"Oh! May I?" Montague shot his hand towards it.

Severus scratched the back of his head. "No you may not" he said and took the card.

"Fine" he harrumphed. "Anyways… no offence Regulus… but your cousin is about as deep as a rain puddle."

"None taken-MAY I!"

"Sure, go ahead" Evan waved his hand dismissively. "Hey, so I got a letter from my parents last night and I found out something very interesting about…" he lowered his voice. "The Knights of Walpurgis"

"Oh! May I!" Severus said.

Montague said it was okay.

"Well, apparently their leader has formed an elite group called Death Eaters" he continued.

"That's a bit morbid, don't you think?" Severus commented, re-arranging the cards in his hands.

"Yeah… sounds pretty cool though." Montague laughed as he discarded a card.

"You know… come to think of it, I think that name sounds familiar." He mused out loud. "Oh! Nice!" Severus lowered most of his cards and discarded one.

"What! How'd you do that so fast?" Evan protested.

"Well, I got these right from the beginning then I drew these from that last 'may I'" he explained.

"Lucky bastard" Evan muttered. "Anyways, so Lucius Malfoy, turns out he's a recruiter for this group too and he's looking for talented people to join"

"Oh really?" Montague looked intrigued.

"Yes" Evan picked up a card "and dad told me he was going to be at the Hogshead next weekend"

"You sure look excited about this" Severus pointed out.

"And you don't… don't you want to join?"

"Aren't we a bit too young to? Besides, what's the point? I don't care about mudbloods being taught magic or not, either way it's a waste of time arguing about it."

"But the pay is great! My dad is earning double of what he earns at the Ministry! And he's head of the department of magical artefacts!"

Severus shrugged. "I don't know"

"Snape, it's your turn" Regulus nudged him.

"Oh! Right, sorry" he drew a card and grinned. "I won!" he discarded the cards in his hand with a look of triumph.

-o-

The sky was solid white and was unusually cold for March. Severus's day had been painfully uneventful so far. He had endured the routine taunting sneers shot at him during the morning, followed by a rousing forty five minutes in Herbology locked with killer house plants (his left index finger was still bleeding). Black then had pushed him around a bit. Lily had greeted him during lunch. He found two sickles while he was on his way to class. He witnessed James's (whose nose was now off-centre) cauldron explode with acidic potion. And now Severus sat at the base of the old tree by the lake staring into space. His slightly singed scarf lay loosely atop his shoulders and his mittens were tucked in his robe pocket. A warm portable fire was flickering in a jar by his feet.

"Hey Severus" Regulus greeted him half-heartedly, plopping down next to him. "What are you doing?"

"…Nothing" he looked at him; Regulus looked considerably dishevelled. His hair was awry, his robes were a mess, he had a graze on his cheek and had dirt smudged on his nose. "Back from Herbology?" Severus raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah… those damn things keep getting more violent huh?"

Severus nodded in agreement and brandished his heavily bandaged index finger. "Damn cactus almost gnawed my finger off"

Regulus laughed, "It's finally Friday though"

He shrugged.

Regulus stretched out his arms and resumed his previous position. "We're going to play disembodiment poker tonight, you in?"

"Nah… I'll pass. I've clearly had all the dismemberment I can handle for today…" he stared at his finger, laughing a bit. "Don't you have Quidditch practise now?"

"What? Oh! No, Gryffin-dorks borrowed the pitch today so no." He sighed. "Won't do them any good though, we're going to win this time."

"You sound pretty confident…"

"I saw it on my Crystal Ball today in Divination class. A burning tea-kettle and cheese means victory… or getting mauled by a grizzly bear" he said seriously.

Severus laughed heartily this time, "It is beyond me how you actually _believe_ in that sort of thing… Mauled by grizzly bears? Priceless!"

"Fine… but don't go crying to me if I get offed by a bear!"

Severus kept laughing. "How am I supposed to go crying _to you_ if you were the one who got killed?"

He looked at him with a blank expression on his face.

"You're _insane_"

"Yeah… yeah… you laugh now" He smirked. "And just for that little outburst I won't read your palm."

Severus rolled his eyes. "Please tell me you're joking"

"No seriously!" Professor said I was good at it!"

Severus raised a sceptical eyebrow.

Regulus snatched his hand. "See, this line here? That's your lifeline… It's fairly long." He traced his index finger over it carefully. "Oh… right here in your twenties… tragedy" he kept tracing it. "Difficult times lie ahead…" Regulus bent over closer to get a better look. "You'll betray someone very important…twice"

Severus looked at him blankly. "Oh please…"

"Shut up" Regulus traced another line. "This is your money line… it's barely there which means you'll never be rich…"

He scoffed.

"Oh? That's weird…"

Severus looked up.

"Your love line… it's so… short" he looked puzzled.

Severus snatched his hand away. "That's a load of bull. You think skin creases will determine a person's life?"

"That's what Professor—

"You're insane." He snapped. "You both are" Severus stood abruptly. "I'll see you later" he turned around and left, clutching his hand subconsciously.

He hurried through the green fields ad through the giant double oak doors. Severus sighed, "Divination's a load of bull anyway…" he murmured. He stopped walking, unsure of where to go, he shrugged and headed towards the Library.

Severus was exhausted, so when he finally plopped down on a leather armchair in a hidden niche in the back of the Dark Arts section, he sighed in relief and opened a rather large, dusty tome in his lap. The book was entitled "_Maleficent Enchantments for the Complex Quasi-Analytical Wizard of Modern Time_" and was about as exciting as the title. Severus began to nod off just after two or three paragraphs. He opened his eyes once his head started to droop and shook his head. Someone laughed softly from hi right side and Severus gave a jolt of surprise.

Lily was standing right next to him and raised an amused eyebrow. Severus blinked at her; his brain and mouth had gone into temporary hiatus so he gave her an imperceptible nod.

She sat down on the armchair across from him and took out a notebook and a quill. Severus stared at what she was doing for a few seconds; she noticed this and looked back at him, causing Severus to snap his eyes back to his boring book.

About two or three more paragraphs, he looked up again. Lily was still sitting there, writing lazily on her notebook, and wearing dark-rimmed glasses. '_Glasses? Since when does she wear glasses?' _he thought. Lily looked back up at him with an amused smile, he quickly turned back o his book. _'What's she doing?'_ he wondered, chancing another look. She was still writing with a vague smile on her face. He turned the page even though he still hadn't read it.

The silence was pressing into his ears; her rhythmic quill scratches were boring into his brain. He looked up again; Lily adjusted her glasses, looked up, smiled and looked away again. '_What the heck is she writing?_' he thought in slight annoyance. He discreetly craned his neck, trying to catch a glimpse of the page but failed. She looked up again, smiling in amusement, almost tormenting him in a way. '_Oh. I get it_' he smirked '_she's _toying_ with me, she wants me to crack… Well, I'll play along but she'll be the one to crack_' he smiled defiantly back at her.

Lily quirked her eyebrow in a sly manner and continued writing; Severus looked away nonchalantly, read another paragraph and looked back. Her glasses were now hanging on the collar of her blouse; he swallowed and looked away.

About ten or so seconds he looked back again. She laughed quietly, writing something down in her notebook. Severus pretended to stretch while trying to catch a glimpse of what she was doing. Again, she smiled in amusement, swept back a stray hair from her face and dipped her quill into the inkwell. Suddenly, Lily sighed, close he notebook, stuffed it in her bag, folded her arms in front of her and raised an eyebrow at him.

'_What is she playing at?_' he thought in confusion. '_Why is she doing this? …And just what the heck IS she doing?'_. He sighed too, close his book and stared back at her in resolute defiance. '_Whatever it is, I'm not giving in' _he smirked. She smirked back in an instant. '_I wont lose Evans_' he thought, now looking at her with a playful look of cheekiness on his face.

Lily shifted in her seat and took out the notebook again, grinned with an air of satisfaction and began to write again. '_What!? Damnit what the hell?_' he thought in annoyance. '_Just **what** was the bloody point of this?_'. Severus sighed in with defeat and rested his chin on his fist. All of a sudden, Lily stood up, smirked and left. Severus looked at her go, feeling very queasy and highly confused. "What the hell?" he murmured, put his book down and walked out. He suddenly stopped as realization struck him. '_Wait a minute… were we flirting just now?'_ he shook his head and continued walking.

-o-

Severus walked distractedly through the hallways; trying to make sense of whatever the hell had just happened in the library. He was so lost in thought that he didn't even notice he was walking into a painfully obvious trap. Just as his foot tripped over a taut piece of thread, he realized a second too late that it had set off a bucketful of sticky glue to fall from the ceiling. Before he could even react to this, Potter and Black jumped out simultaneously out of two vacant classrooms and dumped two buckets of muggle glitter on him. Severus coughed and sputtered as he inhaled the million itchy metallic nightmares.

"Damnit Potter!" He coughed, trying to wipe the glitter away from his eyes. He staggered blindly with a mixture of rage and humiliation, tripped on his own feet and fell flat on his face.

"Sheesh Snivellus" Black's voice came from somewhere above him. "I didn't think you'd be _this_ thick"

"Yeah" James laughed cruelly, "Even Peter thought you wouldn't fall for it!"

"Fuck you!" he got up coughing.

Black gasped dramatically. "You foul mouth! What would your ugly mum say?"

"We should clean that dirty mouth of his, shouldn't we Sirius?"

"Oh, I agree Jamesie"

"Right then…_scourgify!_" James eyes glinted maliciously.

Severus gagged with bitter frothy soap bubbles. As if the glitter in his lungs wasn't bad enough; he started coughing and wheezing, trying to breathe. The room was spinning around him and his knees gave way as he hacked and coughed up soap bubbles.

"JAMES POTTER! SIRIUS BLACK! What are you doing to that poor student!?" a shrill, angry voice came from further along the corridor.

"Nothing Professor!" Sirius lied, "We just found Snivellus here and—

"Snivellus? Snape?" a shadow leaned over Severus's coughing body. "He can barely breathe!" The shadow muttered a complex spell and Severus felt his respiratory tract open. He took a large gulp of air. Severus was panting heavily, a blurry McGonagall was glaring at the pair"

"I can't believe you two! Attacking a student like this! He was suffocating! Do you know what could have happened if I hadn't showed up! This behaviour is simply unacceptable! To think that my own students, in Gryffindor, no less! Why, never in my life have I seen behaviour such as yours! This shenanigan could very well cause you two suspension- hell, even expulsion from Hogwarts!" Professor McGonagall screamed. "You two are going to the Headmaster's office immediately!" she shrieked and grabbed them by the ears. "Mullen!" McGonagall snapped at a student who was just walking by.

"Yes Professor?" his voice trembled slightly.

"Please take Severus up to the infirmary while I deal with these two" she glared at the boys.

"Okay Professor" the boy said, looking over at Severus, who was trying to get up.

Mullen walked over to him and dragged him up to his feet. "Can you walk?"

Severus nodded but swayed. Mullen helped steady him and led him towards the Hospital Wing; where, upon arrival, Severus threw up.

Madame Promfey was hysterical, asking Mullet what had happened. Mullen explained that he was just walking by but Severus did not hear anything else. Next thing he knew he was lying in a bed with white sheets and his arms still had some specs of glitter on them. He looked around, he was still in the Hospital Wing and it was dark out. The only source of light was a small lantern flickering on one of the bedside tables. Severus turned over and fell asleep again.

_To Be Continued…_

A/N- Oh my God! I FINALLY got around to finishing this chapter up! I have three more chapters written down by hand and I will type them up and post them as soon as I can! I am _incredibly_ sorry for the delay in this one, I just started college and while it is not hard for me to keep writing the story, it **is** hard for me to find time to type it and post it. I will definitely make a bigger effort in getting the next chapter up in less than a month. Anyways I really hope you all liked this so please review! Reviews motivate me :)


	32. Chapter 32

**"The Tale of a Broken Man" **

_**By: PsychoHaired**_

_Disclaimer:_ Anything remotely related to Harry Potter does not belong to me

A/N- This is a birthday present for Metallikun! So, here you go, another chapter (though this one is short, I know you'll like it!) Enjoy! ;)

_**Chapter 32:**_

Severus woke up with a start, gasping for air. He looked around nervously. It was completely dark; the only source of light came from the full moon outside. He tried to remember where he was, straining his eyes in the dark. _'Oh yeah… that's right'_ he thought bitterly, Severus was still in the infirmary "Stupid Potter" he spat. Hi throat ached and he had a bitter taste in his mouth._ 'What the hell did I do to them anyways?'_ he thought angrily. Severus's stomach growled; he was starving.

The Hogwarts Tower Clock struck two, startling Severus out of his bed and onto the cold stone floor. That stupid tower clock struck every hour on the hour, including nighttime! Slytherins usually didn't hear it because the dungeons were too far away but Severus had once heard that the Ravenclaws slept right next to it. It was common to find disgruntled, sleep deprived Ravenclaw first years at the beginning of the year nodding off in class because of it. After a few weeks they'd get used to it. Severus however was cursing the stupid sod that programmed that clock.

His stomach growled again. With a heavy sigh, Severus disentangled the sheets off him and stood up from the floor, figuring he might as well grab something to eat.

-O-

Severus crept in the shadows quietly; ready to duck into the nearest niche in case he saw a ghost or Filch. The hallways were deserted however, so he reached the kitchens without much trouble.

He stood before a large painting of a bowl of fruit. Severus looked both ways to make sure no one was around. When he was sure the corridor was empty, he reached out and tickled the pair. The painting slipped aside, revealing the entrance to the kitchens.

When he stepped inside, a house-elf carrying a plate of raw dough walked by. The elf spotted him and yelped in surprise.

"Sir!" The little creature ran up to him and asked him if he needed anything.

"Er… well, I'm really hungry," he muttered, slightly taken aback at the elf's overeager face. The house-elf bowed and scurried away excitedly. Soon, about a dozen elves were offering him everything from toast, to kippers to pancakes.

"That was fast…" he commented as he accepted a bowl of chicken noodle soup.

"Well sir wasn't the first student here tonight" a stout elf carrying a tray of ginger snaps grinned. "In fact, sir is not the only one here" he whispered, pointing at the back of a large plush couch.

Severus looked at the elf in confusion.

"Miss was very nice to us, miss even helped Whimmy make bread dough! …Whimmy told Miss not to but Miss helped Whimmy anyway" the elf whispered surreptitiously, pulling him towards the couch.

Severus walked in front of the couch and choked on a noodle.

"Severus?" Lily jumped in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

Severus coughed a response.

"Sit down" she patted the cushion next to her. Severus sat down and drew his legs up to his chest.

"I couldn't sleep either," she muttered.

Severus blushed a bit.

"How's your stomach?"

"What?"

"…Madame Promfey said that the scourgify had irritated your stomach lining" he mumbled.

"Oh…" he looked away and scowled. "I'm fine" A few minutes passed in silence.

"Hey…" she paused. "Sev?"

"Hmm?" he looked up.

"Why'd you? I mean… when we were—

"Pardon me Sir, Miss." The house-elf named Whimmy bowed. "Whimmy heard you had trouble sleeping… so Whimmy made you some warm milk"

"Thank you Whimmy" Lily grinned and accepted the glass; Severus took one too.

Severus took a sip. "So when we were…" he started.

"Right… when we were arguing…" she put down the glass of milk with a flustered expression on her face. "You said that… that I used you?" she spoke softly, wringing the hem of her pyjama bottoms.

"…"

"Why…when did?" she continued hesitantly.

Severus's stomach flopped. A moment of awkward silence passed.

"Why'd you say yes?" Severus blurted out.

"What?"

"…To Hogsmeade, you said you wanted to go with me"

"Oh" she blushed. "I can't…"

"Can't what?" he felt a bit of anger rising.

"Sev it's embarrassing" she looked away with a faint smile.

Severus's mind was racing, if she didn't want to tell him, then maybe his suspicions were correct… still, Severus was burning to know the real reason.

"Did you do it to make Potter jealous?" he uttered out again.

"What?" she laughed. "Potter? Why would I want to make him jealous?"

He scowled. "Because you fancy him," he said bitterly.

"What! Oh please, tell me you're joking… Potter? I _detest_ him!" she laughed. "I wouldn't fancy that prat even if he was the last guy on the planet!"

"What?"

"I don't fancy him"

Severus fought off a grin, "Really?"

"Ew, no!" she seemed a bit insulted.

He laughed and drank some more milk, somehow he felt a bit better now.

"You didn't answer my question though…"

"Oh… _that_" he put down his glass again.

"Well?"

"I just thought…" he looked away, slightly embarrassed.

"Come on" she egged him on.

"I… I thought you used me to make _him_ jealous" he said quickly.

"Why'd you go and think something as completely ridiculous as that?"

"I- It doesn't matter…" he felt slightly at ease. "And er… sorry" he looked away "For eh…" he trailed off.

-O-

Severus opened his eyes; he'd fallen asleep. He looked down and jumped slightly as he realized Lily was resting her head on his chest and his arms were curled around her protectively. He looked at the clock on the wall; it was three thirty in the morning. Severus meant to push her aside gently but she snuggled closer to him. He blushed furiously at this, body stiffening. Hesitantly, he stroked Lily's red hair, falling asleep shortly after.

-O-

Severus heard a bump in the kitchens and woke up with a start.

"…Peter but then Dumbledore said that if we ever pull a stunt like that he'll be forced to suspend us… might even expel us" the voice echoed.

"I still can't believe you two actually did that to Snape" a second voice commented with a bit of disappointment in it.

"Shit!" Severus cursed under his breath as he realized who'd just walked in.

"Hmm? What's that noise? Lily said groggily, rubbing her eyes. She looked up and sat up quickly blushing slightly.

"Lily get down!" he made to pull her before they were seen but it was too late.

"Evans? What are you doing here so early?" James smile then turned sour as he spotted him.

"Snape? What the hell's going on?" he looked from Severus to Lily in fury.

'_Shit_…' Severus thought.

"Why are you in pyjamas? Did you just wake…" James expression changed from confusion to horror. "OH THERE IS NO WAY" he pointed at Severus then to Lily. "There is no fucking way!" he looked downright murderous. "Evans you owe me an explanation!"

"What?" she looked slightly taken aback. "I don't owe you anything Potter!"

"You- you slept with _Snivellus!_"

"What! How can you even say that!" she bellowed back.

"How could you do this to me!"

"I didn't do anything to you! WE. HAVE. NO. RELATIONSHIP. You and I never have and never will!"

"You snogged him!"

"I did no such thing!"

"Then why the fuck were you two in pyjamas, on a couch, looking all dishevelled and— he was shaking with fury.

Severus had his wand at the ready just in case Potter snapped. The rest of his goons stood behind James looking shell-shocked.

"You've been sneaking in here to snog each other haven't you? You- you… I thought you had some common sense Evans!"

"Common sense? Listen to yourself you sodding prat!"

"No! It's true isn't it! You two have been getting cosy here… doing Merlin knows what and behind my back! HOW COULD YOU DO!!!"

"For the last time! This has nothing to do with you Potter! You have completely lost your mind! I have done none of the things you think I have!" she yelled back, just as furiously.

"Yes you have! You did! Just _look_ at him! His hair is all messed up and his clothes are rumpled… EVANS YOU- YOU—

"For Merlin's sake! You _REALLY_ THINK I'VE BEEN SNOGGING HIM!?" she looked borderline insane. "Fine!" she turned around, grabbed Severus by the collar of his shirt and kissed him… hard.

Severus stood frozen to the spot; his wand clattered to the floor. Lily pulled away gasping for air. "Now I have!" she shot James a death glare, picked Severus's wand up and dragged him out of the kitchens before Potter could overcome his shock.

Only two things were running through Severus's mind right now as Lily dragged him away from the time bomb in a furious huff: _'What the hell happened just now?'_ and _'Oh…shit… I'm a dead man… Potter's going to skin me alive, pour salt over my body and throw me into a pit of ravenous hippogriffs…'_

They were both panting heavily when they finally stopped outside.

Lily looked at him and ran away. As Severus watched her run off, his confusion increased. It took him about ten seconds for his legs to register that his brain was telling them to run after her.

"Lily! Wait! Lily!"

_To Be Continued…_

A/N- Cliff hanger… I know… don't kill me. Please Read and Review, happy Halloween and happy birthday Metallikun.


	33. Chapter 33

"**The Tale of a Broken Man"  
by: Hewtab (aka PsychoHaired)**

First of all, I would like to apologize INMENSELY for abandoning this fic for two years. I am so sorry that you had to wait so much. I'm sorry for being lazy and not updating and I'm sorry if you gave up hope on this one.

Secondly, I'd like to thank everyone who has read and given me feedback on this, my master work (32 chapters, this is novel length guys!!). I'd especially like to thanks cutiepi314 and snarky beth, you along with my best friend nosaintann have given me the drive to continue this fic.

Yes, you read correctly, the ball is rolling again. I want to finish this very much. I'd like to have a chapter posted tonight if at all possible (this highly depends on me finding my old notebook). However, I make no promises on regular updates, I do promise though, that I will finish this! I also promise to try my hardest to have a chapter or two up every month.

On regards to chapter 33, I had it written down somewhere and I cannot find it. I'm ransacking my room for that notebook and praying to my muses that I find it. If not, I'll just have to re-read the whole shebang and write 33 all over again. I'd also like to add, that I have a crucial scene written down (and I actually know where it is, lol) Also, you might notice a style change in my writing when I do update. It's been two years now, I've had two years of college writing on my hands now (ooooh sparkles) SO, without much further ado, I'd like to welcome everyone back to The Tale of a Broken Man :D

ETA: A/N- So I never found my old notebook BUT, I did find chapter 33 completely scanned in my computer :D SOOOOO, I gladly present the thirty-third installment of The Tale of a Broken Man!

**Chapter 33:**

"Lily!" he yelled after her. "Come back! Wait!" he ran as fast as he could, finally catching up to her and grabbing her by the shoulder. "Wait" he panted. "What-why did" he said breathing heavily. "Did you? Just now? In front of-" he tried to catch his breath. "What the hell!?"

"I-I don't'- I" she shoved him out of the way and ran off, face as brilliantly red as her hair.

"What?" Severus looked at her run away, he didn't chase her down. Instead he walked back into the castle and down the Slytherin dormitories. Somehow he'd wound up waking up next to the girl of his dreams, been discovered by her over-protective stalker, snogged senseless by her and left completely dazed and confused. Not to mention number one of Potter's revenge list… Severus needed to sleep; he was certain he would wake up and still be at the infirmary with glitter in his hair. This was not the case however, as two hours later, Severus found himself lying on his own bed just as confused as ever.

-O-

"Oi, Snape" Evan ran up to him when Severus came up to the Common Room. "I just heard Potter's going to kill you."

"Rosier, Potter is always out to kill me" he snapped irritably.

"Yes but this time you did something to him" he grinned cheekily. "You see, people have been talking and everyone keeps saying you snogged Potter's girlfriend" He broke out into hysterics "As if YOU would ever kiss a girl!"

Severus shot him a death glare, ignoring his last comment. "Don't be ridiculous Evan" he replied sardonically. "First of all, Evans is not Potter's girlfriend as far as I know, though to be quite honest I don't care." He picked up a book from his bedside table. "Secondly, I did not 'snog' her as you so eloquently put it" '_she snogged me… '_he thought. "Furthermore, I—

"Severus you sly dog!" Regulus burst in grinning, cutting him off midsentence. "You went and snogged Lily all night and you didn't even tell me?"

Severus pinched the bridge of his nose; denying this wasn't going to be an easy feat.

"How was it? Did you French her? How far did you—

"I didn't _snog_ her for Merlin's sake! What's WRONG with you people!?" he threw the book at the wall.

"You just confirmed the exact opposite by exploding like that you know…" Regulus smirked.

"Oh shut up you're giving me a headache!" He glared at both Regulus and Evan.

"So he actually snogged the mudblood?" Evans turned to Regulus.

Severus glared in their general direction.

"I would suppose so; that Potter threw a fit in the Great Hall, screamed at an owl for dropping a letter on his head. Plus he kept glaring at Evans… though it's happened before, like when she went to Sluggy's party with that Lupin kid."

"Still within earshot!" He glowered.

-o-

Severus walked through the crowded halls where occasionally he'd notice someone turn to their companion and whisper. However, he was lost in thought analyzing (perhaps a bit too much) the recent events.

The first and obvious question was of course, why had Lily kissed him? In front of Potter no less. Potter… that right there was one of the problems. No doubt that blithering idiot was plotting Severus's slow and painful (probably publically humiliating) death. The of course there was Lily…Severus's ears turned slightly pink as he remembered the encounter. Why had she run away? Was Severus's initial suspicion correct? Maybe Lily DID go out with him to make Potter jealous and perhaps kissed him for the same reason too… Yet, Severus didn't really think Lily would be the type of person to do such a thing… But what if she was? Didn't she once tell him the Sorting Hat almost put her in Slytherin?...a Slytherin would do that. Hell, a Slytherin would have gone as far as- well she wasn't a Slytherin either way, he blushed. If making Potter jealous was her objective, she reached it… and then some. But maybe… just maybe Lily actually wanted to kiss him? She did say she didn't fancy Potter… or maybe she was denying it. But the fact was she kissed him, why? And why? Why did she run away? Twice! Maybe she was using him but felt bad about it… _'Or maybe…'_ He shook his head sadly. _'No one would ever fancy me over stupid perfect Potter.'_ He sighed. _'Still… that was a really nice kiss…'_

"Oi! Watch it!"

Severus had walked straight into Regulus.

"Aha! Caught you daydreaming… I **knew** you snogged her" he said with a smirk.

"Shh!" Madame Pince glared at the pair. Severus hadn't even noticed he'd walked right into the library.

"Sorry" Regulus whispered back.

"I didn't '_snog_' her" Severus argued in a quiet whisper. He walked over to the back of the Library.

"Yes you did" He whispered back, following him. "Otherwise, your ears woln't be pink, you wouldn't be trying to hid that idiotic grin on your face and—

"I didn't kiss her! She kissed me!" he hissed then mentally kicked himself once he realized what he'd just revealed.

Regulus sat down opposite him and took out his wand. "_Muffliato_"

"Muffliato? Regulus have you been reading my potions book!?" Severus glared at him.

"I was looking for tips on brewing an allergy drought…" he shrugged. "By the way that Levicorpus one cracked me up"

Severus was staring daggers at him.

"So how the heck did Lily end up snogging _you?_"

"You can't just go looking through my stuff! And how did you get past my protection charms?!"

"Please, _Zantedeschia __elliottiana 1_ is a pretty pathetic password" Regulus laughed when Severus's face turned tomato red with embarrassment. "And don't change the subject" he twiddled his thumbs. "How did miss _Zantedeschia _end up kissing you?" he winked.

"That is none of your business" he snapped.

"Oh come on"

"Sod it" he stood up.

"Sit down… now" Regulus said this with such definite authority, he almost obeyed him.

"What happened?" Regulus didn't looks amused anymore.

"I don't know!!" he threw his arms in the air. "I mean, I go to the kitchens to get something to eat and there she is… just sitting there. We talked for a while and fell asleep! Next thing I know Potter barges in and wakes us up, gets the wrong idea, Lily goes berserk and snogs the hell out of me!" he screamed. "So I ask her why she did and she runs away! What kind of insane person is she!? I don't know what is going on anymore!" he let his head drop to the table with a dull thunk.

"There, now doesn't that feel better?" Regulus smirked.

"O yeah, I feel _loads_ better now. I think I'll walk up to Potter and give him a hug!" he glared.

"You're venting… venting is good"

"Oh shut up you hippie" Severus growled at him.

"So you're going to ask me for advice now, right? Regulus said ignoring his last comment.

"No…"

"I'll take that as a yes. Don't do anything, let it all sort itself out."

"Now you really are beginning to sound like a hippie…"

"…and avoid Potter"

"Oh yes thank you" his voice dripped with sarcasm "Thank you very much for stating the fucking obvious"

"Language"

"Sod it"

"Come on, we're going to Quidditch practise"

"Excuse me, _we_?" he looked up with a scowl.

"If I leave you alone, you'll probably off yourself" he grabbed him by the shoulder and dragged him away by force.

When they reached the pitch it was empty. Regulus led him to a broom shed and grabbed two brooms and a trunk. He handed one of the broomsticks to Severus. "Kick off" he said.

"What?"

"Kick off! I'm going to show you how to beat bludgers."

"Why?"

"Will you just kick off?" Regulus shot upwards with his beater's bat, leaving the other bat on the ground.

Severus picked up the bat and reluctantly followed suit. The ground sped away from him as the wind blew through his hair.

"Now I'm going to release the bludgers alright? I'll beat them towards you, you beat them back"

"What!?"

"_Adeat!_" Regulus pointed at the trunk below them and two black bludgers shot towards them. Regulus swung his beater's bat and hit the bludger whizzing past his right ear.

"Are you trying to kill me!?"

"Just swing the bat! Trust me; it'll make you feel better!" Regulus said batting the second bludger towards him.

Severus swung back and hit is as hard as he could, his arms vibrated with the resonance of the impact.

"Good one! Now try flying at the same time!" Regulus sped away, batting one of the bludgers towards him. Severus sped after it and hit it; he had a bit of trouble balancing this time though.

They spent hours at this, Severus channeling his rage and frustration into each blow. He was knocked down quite a few times too, by the time they stopped; Severus couldn't lift the beater's bat anymore. He panted as he landed on the floor, Regulus landed next to him.

"Tired already?" Regulus panted. "Are you feeling better?"

Severus nodded a bit, catching his breath.

"Good, now take a shower, you stink" Regulus laughed.

"You're no blooming flower either"

"Yep, you're definitely feeling better now" he grinned and patted him on the back.

"Oh sod off…" he grumbled as they entered the locker room.

Severus let the hot water run over his aching limbs, sighing to himself. '_How did this happen?_' he thought miserably. '_I should be happy that she kissed me but… that damn Potter ruined it. Well… he actually caused it but still, I'm dead!'_

"Oi Severus! It's dinnertime! Get out of there!" Regulus banged on the door.

Severus reluctantly turned the water off and got dressed. His arms and legs were still sore from that beater lesson. When they reached the entrance of the Great Hall Severus stopped.

"I can't go in" he muttered.

"What?" Regulus shot him a quizzical look.

"Potter's probably in there, he'll kill me."

"Not with the teachers watching"

"But Lily—

"She can't, and won't, avoid you forever" Regulus grabbed him by the tie and dragged him in. "I can tell she really cares about you mate"

"Regulus! Damnit let go!" he pulled back. "Fine! I can walk on my own!" Regulus let go of him and walked inside, Severus adjusted his tie and followed him reluctantly.

His eyes scanned the room and immediately fell on Lily. She was prodding her food with a confounded expression on her face. Severus spotted James glaring at her, Black laughing hard and jabbing him in the ribs. Suddenly, Black looked his way and turned to Potter. Severus gulped, James clenched his fists and glared at him, Remus was holding him back with a worried expression on his face.

Severus sat down next to Regulus and whispered, "I have to get out of here."

"Relax Snape, just eat"

"Eat? How can I eat when a homicidal maniac is plotting to kill me on the spot?"

"You're overreacting" Regulus said as he stuffed his face with Shepherd's Pie.

"Overreacting? Look at him!"

"Geez, get a grip will y—whoa…" Regulus dropped his fork. "Severus… run!"

Severus looked back at James, he was walking towards the Slytherin table, Sirius and Peter egging him on and Remus trying to pull him back with little success.

Severus stood abruptly and dashed out of the Great Hall.

He ran as fast as he could, trying to figure out the best jinx to defend himself. James was running after him at an alarming speed.

"Come back here you slimy coward!" He was gaining on him.

Severus whipped out his wand yelling a stunning curse. James dodged it and was finally able to grab Severus by the back of his robes. Severus cringed but James didn't hit him, instead he shoved him against a wall.

"Fight me like a man you son-of-a-bitch!" he shouted at him again. "Go on Snivelly, fight me!"

James threw a punch at him, Severus ducked it and punched him back, fist connecting with James's jaw. Severus was surprised he actually got the first hit when James punched the air out of his stomach. Severus kicked his shin as hard as he could but James kept punching every inch of him. He tried to fight back but he was no physical match for him. Severus managed to push him off and slam him against a statue but Potter knocked him to the ground where James kept punching his face until he couldn't feel anything anymore. Suddenly someone grabbed them both and pulled them apart. Severus was struggling against the forceful grip, trying to get to Potter whom was trying to get to him too.

"Quit yer squirming yeh idiots!" the voice of Rubeus Hagrid yelled at them.

"Snape, Potter! That's enough!" McGonagall's voice screeched with outrage.

"Fuck you Snape!" James yelled as he struggled against the half giant's grip.

"Both of yer stop!" Hagrid roared. "Yeh two ought to be ashamed of yerselves!" he looked livid.

"Hagrid, let me go! I want to kill him with my bare hands!"

"Potter! This is the last straw! Both of you are going to the Headmaster's office immediately!" McGonagall screamed. "Hagrid, take these two idiots up to Albus's Office this instant!" she huffed. "Severus for heaven's sake stop struggling or I'll be forced to stun you!"

Severus stopped still glaring (through his good eye) at the badly beaten boy in front of him. James suddenly got loose from Hagrid's grip and jumped on him, punching him as hard as he could.

_To Be Continued…_

A/N- Yaaaaay my very first chapter in two years! I feel good :D

1_ Zantedeschia_ _elliottiana _is the scientific name for the Calla Lily.


	34. found it!

Hey guys! I found my notebook! SOOOO A new chapter will be up soon!! :D


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